Federal legislation signed into law requires the U.S. Dept. of Veterans Affairs to remove the remains of Fernando V. Cota from Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery.
SAN ANTONIO — A convicted rapist and alleged serial killer will no longer be buried at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery after new federal legislation was signed into law.
U.S. Senator John Cornyn announced that legislation requiring the removal of Fernando V. Cota’s remains from Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery has been signed into law.
The bill, cosponsored by Ted Cruz, was included in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026 and signed by Donald Trump. It directs the U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs to disinter Cota, a convicted rapist and alleged serial murderer, from the national cemetery.
Cornyn said allowing Cota to remain buried among veterans was inappropriate, calling the cemetery a “sacred resting place” for service members and their families. The request to remove Cota’s remains came from the son of one of his alleged victims.
Cota, a Vietnam War veteran, was linked to multiple sexual assaults and was a suspect in several murders in California. He was convicted of rape in 1975, later released on parole, and died by suicide in 1984 after police discovered the body of a young woman in his vehicle.
Federal law now prohibits individuals convicted of certain crimes from being buried in national cemeteries, though those rules were not in place at the time of Cota’s burial.