Suspect in 9 Killings Pleads Not Guilty in Texas Case

A Mexican national suspected of killing nine people while crisscrossing the United States on freight trains pleaded not guilty in a Texas state court Friday to capital murder in the death of a Houston woman.

Angel Maturino Resendez, 39, entered the plea through his court-appointed attorney a day after a grand jury indicted him in the murder of Dr. Claudia Benton.

Assistant Dist. Atty. Devon Anderson said Maturino Resendez broke into Benton’s home in December, sexually assaulted the 39-year-old mother of twin daughters and killed her by stabbing her with a knife and beating her over the head with a small statue.

A slightly built figure dressed in an orange prison jumpsuit, Maturino Resendez nodded when Judge Bill Harmon asked if he understood he could face the death penalty.

Maturino Resendez has been charged with two murders in Texas, two in Illinois and one in Kentucky and has also been officially named as a suspect in four more Texas killings.

Friday’s five-minute court appearance was his first arraignment on a murder charge.

Judge Harmon ordered a psychiatric evaluation to determine whether the defendant is sane and competent to stand trial.

Anderson told reporters the issue of his sanity boiled down to the simple question of whether he knew right from wrong.

“I just know that there are some people who like to kill, like to hurt people, and I don’t think that necessarily means they’re insane,” she said.

Anderson added that Harris County Dist. Atty. John Holmes had not yet decided whether to seek the death penalty.

Texas executes more convicted criminals than any other U.S. state, and Harris County, whose territory includes Houston, accounts for one third of all Texas death sentences.

Defense attorney Allen Tanner declined to elaborate on the not-guilty plea or discuss his defense strategy. He said he is hoping that Mexican diplomats will intervene in an effort to save his client’s life.

Maturino Resendez is scheduled to stand trial in the Benton killing on Feb. 14.

-- UNPUBLISHED NOTE --

Stories after July 30, 1999 use the spelling Angel Maturino Resendiz.

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