{"id":290682,"date":"2026-05-13T04:41:22","date_gmt":"2026-05-13T04:41:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/290682\/"},"modified":"2026-05-13T04:41:22","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T04:41:22","slug":"selfies-on-murder-suspects-phone-tied-him-to-a-second-central-texas-homicide-police-say-5","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/290682\/","title":{"rendered":"Selfies on murder suspect’s phone tied him to a second Central Texas homicide, police say"},"content":{"rendered":"

AUSTIN, Texas \u2014 Austin police say the suspect in two unsolved Central Texas murders<\/a> could be a serial killer.<\/p>\n

Luis Fernando Benitez Gonzalez, 26, was arrested April 27<\/a> by the U.S. Marshals Service Lone Star Fugitive Task Force at an apartment complex in Dallas. He faces a murder charge in the June 2024 death of Alyssa Ann Rivera<\/a> in southeast Austin and has been linked through DNA evidence to the April 2018 killing of Alba Jenisse Aviles Marti<\/a> in Bastrop County.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese two murders were never forgotten,\u201d said APD Homicide Detective Chris Anderson.<\/p>\n

Anderson said Benitez-Gonzalez was connected to the 2018 and 2024 homicides through investigations into two aggravated assaults in Austin in November and December of 2025. One of the aggravated assault victims fought back against Benitez-Gonzalez and managed to take his cell phone. <\/p>\n

“What was the key in unlocking this case, or getting you all to start making all those connections?” CBS Austin reporter Bettie Cross asked.<\/p>\n

“Detectives did a search warrant on the phone… He took selfies,” Anderson said. “He had a photo of himself. At that point, we had some identifiers for him. From that point on, we were able to progress the investigation further.”<\/p>\n

PREVIOUS COVERAGE | Austin man arrested, connected to two unsolved murders in Central Texas<\/a><\/p>\n

KEYE<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

The photos yielded location data that helped investigators identify him and place him near the scene of the 2018 Bastrop County homicide.<\/p>\n

DNA recovered from the Rivera crime scene generated a match in the federal CODIS database linking her case to the Aviles Marti homicide. Benitez-Gonzalez later confessed to both killings after his arrest, claiming self-defense in each case. Investigators said that claim is contradicted by the physical and forensic evidence.<\/p>\n

CBS Austin is working to contact the attorney for Benitez-Gonzalez for comment.<\/p>\n

Investigators said they believe Benitez-Gonzalez may be responsible for additional attacks. Detectives noted that people who commit crimes with such a distinct pattern rarely go six years between offenses.<\/p>\n

“We are reviewing other cases in the Austin area,” Anderson said at a news conference Tuesday. “That’s part of the plea – have other agencies also check their records and check their cases to see if they have any unsolved cases that match what we have.”<\/p>\n

Police say there may also be witnesses, friends, and acquaintances who have yet to come forward.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe’re asking you to think back carefully. We have reason to believe Benitez-Gonzalez has made some incriminating comments over the years to co-workers and acquaintances who, at the time, may not have realized the severity of the crime,\u201d said Anderson.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile today is an important step forward, we recognize that no arrest can undo the pain and loss experienced by those who knew and loved Alisa and Alba,\u201d said APD Assistant Chief Michael Earley.<\/p>\n

Authorities said Benitez-Gonzalez, a Mexican national who had been previously deported in 2020, is believed to have had contact with women in the Austin, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, and Lockhart areas. Detectives said a woman in Largo County was also attacked and strangled by a man connected to Benitez Gonzalez, but survived.<\/p>\n

The investigation spanned 108 days from the time the Lone Star Fugitive Task Force was formally brought in. Benitez Gonzalez was taken into custody without incident after a traffic stop.<\/p>\n

Anyone with information is asked to contact the APD Homicide Unit or submit an anonymous tip to Crime Stoppers at 512-472-8477 or austincrimestoppers.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"AUSTIN, Texas \u2014 Austin police say the suspect in two unsolved Central Texas murders could be a serial…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":285058,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[27,29,28],"class_list":["post-290682","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/290682","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=290682"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/290682\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/285058"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=290682"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=290682"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=290682"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}