LIVE OAK, Texas – A second suspect is in custody in connection with the gruesome November murder of a man who was tied up, tortured and injected with bleach before his body was dumped behind vacant apartments in Live Oak last year.
Noel Desselle, 30, has been charged with altering and concealing a human corpse, a second-degree felony, Bexar County Jail records show.
She was being held Friday morning on $150,000 bond.
Investigators said Desselle and a man, David Castleberry, used a stolen vehicle to move the body of Matthew Pacheco-McKinney from a home in the 7200 block of Montgomery Drive in November.
Pacheco-McKinney’s body was found weeks later dumped behind vacant apartments in the 10800 block of O’Connor Road, in Live Oak.
He had been tied up, tortured and injected with bleach after being shot during a dispute inside the home, a murder warrant obtained Thursday by KSAT Investigates shows.
Authorities on Wednesday charged Justin Hunt, 32, with murder in connection with the death of Pacheco-McKinney.
The two arrests come after a weeks-long investigation by multiple agencies, including Live Oak police, the San Antonio Police Department, the Texas Rangers and the Atascosa County Sheriff’s Office.
Additional suspects in the case could be charged.
The body of Pacheco-McKinney, 31, was found covered in a blanket and curtain material, with a rope wrapped around his midsection Dec. 7. His right foot was wrapped in a black trash bag.
Blood evidence recovered in November by San Antonio police from a recovered stolen vehicle matched evidence found at the scene where Pacheco-McKinney’s body was found, including black trash bags and latex gloves, arrest paperwork for Desselle and Hunt states.
An informant told investigators last week that Pacheco-McKinney was killed during a dispute inside a home in the 7200 block of Montgomery Drive in mid-November.
The residence is listed as Hunt’s last known address.
The informant said Hunt shot Pacheco-McKinney after the victim got in a physical fight inside the home with two other men, including Castleberry.
Hunt stepped in and shot Pacheco-McKinney, who was then tied up, tortured and injected with bleach before dying, arrest paperwork states.
His body was then “placed inside a trash can and dumped at an unknown location” by Castleberry after being ordered to by Hunt, the warrant states.
Castleberry was one of two people charged with murder in Atascosa County earlier this month, after a man’s body was dumped on the side of a road after being shot.
Questioned about Pacheco-McKinney’s murder, Castleberry led investigators to the scene where Pacheco-McKinney’s body had been found weeks earlier.
The precise location of where the body was found had not been disclosed to Castleberry or any outside sources, according to an arrest warrant.
Castleberry told investigators Desselle helped him move the body in a stolen vehicle before dumping it in a brushy area, the warrant states.
Castleberry’s co-defendant in the Atascosa County murder told investigators Castleberry and Hunt had previously killed a woman and buried her in the backyard of Hunt’s home, in exchange for $20,000.
Investigators spent Thursday searching Hunt’s property for possible evidence in an effort that officials said could take several days.
Hunt is being held without bond on charges of murder, felon in possession of a firearm as well as a parole violation out of Austin.
Desselle was charged Thursday after turning herself in to SAPD.