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Husband held in teacher’s slaying
Man used recent headlines to create smokescreen, police say
By SERGIO CHAPA and KEVIN GARCIA
The Brownsville Herald
A Brownsville man is accused of killing his wife, then driving her body to a Matamoros clinic as part of an elaborate cover-up.
Police say Norberto Manzanares tried to use reports of a recent outbreak of violence in Matamoros to cover up the strangulation of his wife Gloria Estella Manzanares, who worked as a bilingual kindergarten teacher at Sharp Elementary.Norberto Manzanares, 30, claimed the woman was killed in Matamoros by unknown attackers Monday morning.
He was charged with her murder Monday night after inconsistencies were found in statements he made to Brownsville and Matamoros authorities, District Attorney Armando Villalobos said.
“The Mexican authorities contacted us and indicated that the information they had did not match the information that he was giving them,” Villalobos said at a Monday night news conference in Brownsville. “The Brownsville police, along with the Cameron County District Attorney’s Office, initiated an investigation and determined he was a suspect.”
No motive has been identified for the 30-year-old woman’s killing, but police believe Norberto Manzanares strangled his wife at their home on the 700 block of Habana Street in the Brownsville Country Club, then took her body into Matamoros and invented an auto accident and a deadly altercation with two men to cover up her murder.
“He used the atmosphere of Matamoros in his favor to cover up the murder with the recent reports of violence and the indications that there is gang warfare and that Matamoros is a dangerous place for American citizens,” Villalobos said.
Last week, the U.S. State Department issued an alert for Americans to be careful when traveling on the Mexican side of the border, based on a recent rash of drug-related violence and concerns over security.
Manzanares remained in police custody Monday night is scheduled for arraignment at 8 a.m. today.
The Husband’s Story
Mexican police said they were skeptical from the beginning.
“We could not find any witnesses to corroborate his (Manzanares’) version of the story,” said Third Agent Emilio Raul Flores with Tamaulipas State Police.
Flores said Norberto Manzanares, a Mexican national, told investigators that the couple had been visiting his relatives in Matamoros.
He told investigators that he caused a minor traffic accident shortly after 8 a.m. Monday at the intersection of Calle 12 and Laguna de Chairel in Colonia San Francisco in downtown Matamoros.
His story is that two men got out of a white 1993 Mercury Marquis with dark windows and white license plates. He said they argued and fought before the men forced the couple inside their van and used a plastic bag to suffocate his wife in view of the couple’s 3-year-old son.
Manzanares told police that he took his wife to the Clinica San Francisco at the corner of Calle 12 and Paseo de la Reforma where she was pronounced dead on arrival.
Suspicions
Flores said Tamaulipas State Police questioned Norberto Manzanares briefly but had no evidence to arrest him.
Brownsville Police Lt. James Paschall said Mexican police called his office shortly after 10 a.m. Monday to share their suspicions and police picked Manzanares up for questioning as he returned home early Monday afternoon.
Paschall said he has not confessed to the murder, but investigators claim they have physical evidence found at the couple’s home that connects him with her death.
The teacher’s body was being returned to Brownsville Monday night, Paschall said.
Mexican investigators performed an autopsy Monday morning. Paschall said another would be performed in Texas to determine the time and manner of her death.
A Teacher’s Life
Gloria and Norberto Manzanares have two children, ages 1 and 3.
According to Brownsville School District records, Gloria Manzanares began teaching a bilingual kindergarten class at Sharp Elementary School in August 2004. She previously taught third grade at Gonzalez Elementary.
Sharp Elementary School Principal Teri Alarcon said Gloria Manzanares did not report for her 8:15 a.m. class Monday.
School officials said they did not learn about her death until early Monday afternoon.
“Sharp Elementary has suffered the loss of one of our teachers we are coping with this loss with the assistance of the BISD crisis intervention team,” Alarcon said in a prepared statement. “Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and any others who were close to Gloria Manzanares. We will honor her memory and we ask others to respect our privacy as we deal with this loss.”
School district spokeswoman Drue Brown said grief counselors had been sent to Sharp Elementary on Monday and would available again for students and teachers today.
schapa@brownsvilleherald.com
Copyright © 2003 The Brownsville Herald
