SAN ANTONIO – “Where is she right now?”
This was the question police repeatedly asked Guadalupe Contreras in the days before his estranged wife, Elizabeth Contreras, was found dead in a field off Old Corpus Christi Road in 2017. Contreras' answer was always the same: “I don’t know.”
However, investigators said, the evidence told a different story.
As Contreras stands trial once again for Elizabeth’s murder, the focus on Friday shifted to two key police interviews.
On Aug. 5, 2017, Guadalupe Contreras was first interviewed by SAPD Det. Jose Espinoza.
Espinoza asked Contreras when he last saw his estranged wife. Contreras told the detective he last saw Elizabeth the day before she was reported missing because she wanted to be put on his work insurance.
Evidence later indicated that the two had planned to meet up the last night she was seen alive on Chive Drive on the far South Side.
Guadalupe’s GPS data from his delivery truck also revealed how he went off route and where his truck was located.
Three days after Elizabeth was found, Espinoza brought Guadalupe in again and told him Elizabeth’s body had been found. Contreras was quiet for a bit and could be heard crying.
When Espinoza told Guadalupe that he would be charged with her murder, Contreras was stunned and asked the detective, “Why?”
Guadalupe Contreras continued to deny any involvement in her murder.
During the cross-examination of Espinoza, defense attorney Charles Bunk asked him why Elizabeth’s ex-husband, Joe Munoz, Jr., was never investigated.
Espinoza told Bunk that he believed the evidence pointed back toward Guadalupe Contreras.
The first day of testimony in Contreras' retrial on Thursday revealed he and his estranged wife were still in contact despite being in other relationships.
Opening statements by the prosecution detailed the couple’s relationship, and how they’d known each other for years. Guadalupe Contreras was the father of Elizabeth’s half-sister’s children.
She was also previously married. After her divorce, she later married Guadalupe Contreras.
“As you can imagine, it’s a messy family dynamic,” prosecutor Kristin Mulliner said during Thursday’s opening statements.
This is the second time Guadalupe stands trial in this case. Back in 2023, the case ended in a mistrial due to an evidence issue that was revealed during that trial.
If convicted, Contreras could face up to life in prison.
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