A jury is deliberating on whether a man is guilty in a more than 30-year-old capital murder, with prosecutors alleging he was a hitman who committed the triple murder over money disagreements by competing businesses.
Arturo Ortega Garcia, now in his 70s, is on trial accused of fatally stabbing Concepcion “Connie” Villa, 28, her boyfriend, Francisco Santoni, 59, and their 3-year-old son, Dante Santoni, in 1994.
A jury of nine women and three men began deliberating about 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 14, to determine whether Ortega Garcia is guilty or innocent after hearing two days of testimony presented by state prosecutors. The defense team rested on Tuesday, Jan. 13, without calling witnesses.
Defendant Arturo Ortega Garcia awaits the start of closing arguments in his murder trial on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, at the Enrique Moreno County Courthouse in El Paso, Texas. Ortega, now in his 70s, is accused of fatally stabbing Concepcion “Connie” Villa, 28, her boyfriend, Francisco Santoni, 59, and their 3-year-old son, Dante Santoni, more than 30 years ago.
State prosecutors Rebecca Tarango and Talisa Gutierrez argued Ortega Garcia was a hitman who killed the family over arguments about money involving competing binational automotive parts industry companies. They claimed Ortega Garcia was hired by a rival company to kill Santoni, who was a manager of an international auto parts business, and used gloves to try not to leave his fingerprints at the scene.
“It’s very clean,” Tarango said of the crime scene in her closing arguments. “You would expect to see a lot more blood than you did. It’s very clean. This is something surgical. This was very planned. This was a very deliberate homicide.”
The key evidence presented in the trial was DNA evidence and fingerprints found on a glove left at the crime.
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The reliability of the 30-year-old evidence used against Ortega Garcia was the focus of the closing arguments for his attorneys Louis Lopez and Leonard Morales. They argued state experts failed to show how they determined the evidence pointed to their client, adding DNA experts were only able to say it was likely and possible the DNA belonged to Ortega Garcia.
“There are no eyewitnesses, there is no video,” Morales said in his closing arguments. “There is only unreliable evidence. Do two pieces of unreliable evidence stand on their own? No, they do not.”
He added, “They can’t put a man away for the rest of his life without proving their work.”
Ortega Garcia is charged with two counts of capital murder. He is facing up to life in prison if he is convicted.
Santoni family found stabbed to death in 1994
The family was found stabbed to death on Aug. 11, 1994, inside their home in the 1800 block of Garden Gate Way behind Montwood High School.
Villa was killed first in the bedroom of the family home after midnight, the El Paso Times reported in 1994. Ortega Garcia allegedly walked into the toddler’s room and stabbed him repeatedly as he laid in his bed.
Ortega Garcia allegedly removed some clothing and other items from the master closet and took them to the family’s 1994 Dodge Colt in the garage. Clothing and jewelry were stolen from the house, police said at the time.
Connie Villa, left, her boyfriend, Francisco Santoni, and their son, Dante, were found stabbed to death in their El Paso home in 1994.
Francisco Santoni came home and was surprised in the hallway by the intruder, who stabbed him repeatedly. His body was found in the same bedroom as Villa.
The family car was found shortly after the killings in the Union Plaza area of Downtown El Paso at the intersection of Durango Street and Paisano Drive, the Times reported.
Audience members listen to closing arguments in the Santoni family triple murder trial of Arturo Ortega Garcia on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, at the Enrique Moreno County Courthouse in El Paso, Texas.
The case remained open with no suspects for nearly 20 years.
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Suspect in killings arrested in Mexico
A warrant was issued for Ortega Garcia in 2015 after “technological advancements” resulted in the identification of Ortega Garcia as a suspect in the killings, El Paso Police Department officials said in 2022.
Law enforcement received information from Mexican authorities that Ortega Garcia was arrested in 2020 in Mexico City. No information was released on what charges he was arrested on in Mexico.
Arturo Ortega Garcia was arrested on Friday, Nov. 4, 2022, accused of capital murder in the 1994 stabbing deaths of Connie Villa, Francisco Santoni and their 3-year-old son, Dante Santoni, in their El Paso home.
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He remained jailed in Mexico until he was extradited to El Paso and arrested by the U.S. Marshal’s Lone Star Fugitive Task Force in November 2022.
Ortega Garcia was booked on Nov. 4, 2022, — 28 years after the stabbing deaths — into the El Paso County Jail on one count of capital murder of multiple persons, jail records show. He has remained jailed on a $5 million bond since his arrest.
Aaron Martinez covers the criminal justice system for the El Paso Times. He may be reached at amartinez1@elpasotimes.com.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Jury deliberates in 1994 triple murder trial of Arturo Ortega Garcia