SAN ANTONIO – The retrial of a man accused in the death of his estranged wife is expected to go to the jury after closing arguments on Thursday morning.
Below is a timeline of events from Wednesday’s proceedings.
2:11 p.m. – Joe Munoz Jr., the ex-husband of Elizabeth Contreras, took the stand to start court proceedings on Wednesday afternoon. He was questioned by Guadalupe Contreras’ defense attorney Charles Bunk whether or not he commented during KSAT 12 News’ livestream coverage of the trial. The jury was not present for Bunk’s line of questioning.
2:19 p.m. – While questioned about commenting on KSAT 12 News’ livestream coverage of the retrial, Munoz admitted to Bunk that he did comment on the KSAT livestream with the volume muted.
2:25 p.m. – Bunk asked Munoz about the first KSAT article or livestream that he read regarding Contreras’ retrial. Munoz said that he was only aware that he could not speak to anyone about the retrial but did not know he was not supposed to comment on the retrial on a social media platform.
2:35 p.m. – Judge Ron Rangel asked Munoz about the rules about talking to anyone while Contreras’ retrial was “pending.” Among the comments allegedly written in a KSAT 12 News YouTube video from Munoz was, “They can’t even get their story straight!”
When Rangel asked Munoz who “they” referred to, Munoz initially said he “couldn’t remember.”
2:37 p.m.– When pressed further by Rangel, Munoz admitted that the “they” in the YouTube comment referred to the defense being unable to get its story straight.
Munoz agreed that he was advised by the court and the prosecution not to get information about the retrial from outside sources because he was a witness.
“You couldn’t help yourself, could you?” Rangel then asked Munoz.
2:39 p.m. – In response to Rangel’s “you couldn’t help yourself” question, Munoz told him, “This is a major deal for me. (It’s) the mother of my child.”
“This trial is a major deal to the taxpayers of this community, right?” Rangel then said to Munoz. “But you put yourself over the taxpayers — over the community — over the integrity of this case. Is that what you did?”
“Yes sir,” Munoz told Rangel.
Rangel then instructed Munoz to exit the courtroom and wait for an official to permit him to leave the premises.
2:40 p.m. – After Munoz exited the courtroom, Contreras’ defense attorney Charles Bunk told Judge Ron Rangel that Joe Munoz Jr. was either “lying to me or lying to the court.”
“If he would be that brazen in his attempt to get through this little hearing, he cannot be trusted when he tells the state, ‘Oh, don’t worry. I can tell the truth if I need to,‘” Bunk told Rangel.
2:42 p.m. – Bunk asked the court to consider this case as a mistrial.
2:45 p.m. – Because Munoz’s testimony was first, the prosecution argued to Judge Rangel that his testimony was not affected by anything he watched or read on KSAT. The state asked for Bunk’s motion of a mistrial to be denied.
2:47 p.m. – Judge Rangel denies Bunk’s motion for Guadalupe Contreras’ case to be considered a mistrial. Rangel also said he would “consider” holding Munoz in contempt of court.
2:53 p.m. – Jury enters the courtroom.
2:54 p.m. – The prosecution called Robert Sailors to the stand. Sailors is a forensic biology unit supervisor at the Bexar County Crime Lab.
3:08 p.m. – Sailors discussed a list of evidence concerning the case received by the crime lab. The prosecution provided the list in court.
3:36 p.m. – Contreras’ defense began its cross-examination of Sailors.
3:41 p.m. – The court begins a short break.
4:16 p.m. – The court’s break ends. The jury returned to the courtroom.
4:21 p.m. – The jury was briefly dismissed before Judge Ron Rangel requested San Antonio Police Department Detective Joe Espinoza back to the stand.
Defense attorney Charles Bunk also asked Espinoza questions about two surveillance videos connected to the case.
4:27 p.m. – The prosecution cross-examined Espinoza regarding the two surveillance videos.
4:43 p.m. – The jury is welcomed back inside the courtroom. SAPD Det. Joe Espinoza is called back to the stand to answer Bunk’s questions regarding the two surveillance videos.
4:51 p.m. – Det. Espinoza, after he was cross-examined by the prosecution, was excused from the stand. The defense and prosecution have rested their cases.
4:52 p.m. – Judge Ron Rangel announces that closing arguments in this case will happen at approximately 9:30 a.m. on Thursday. Rangel said the court is adjourned for Wednesday.
Jurors in the retrial of Guadalupe Contreras saw new evidence Tuesday which included a look inside the vehicle driven by his estranged wife, Elizabeth Contreras, on the night she disappeared in August 2017.
A San Antonio Police Department crime scene detective testified that an initial inspection of the vehicle revealed no visible traces of blood.
However, after spraying a type of luminol, multiple areas of blue fluorescence appeared, indicating the possible presence of blood. Further DNA testing would be needed to confirm the presence of blood.
Elizabeth Contreras’ remains were discovered about a week after her disappearance in a field off Old Corpus Christi Road.
Guadalupe Contreras is on trial for her murder. So far, prosecutors have presented testimony from nearly 20 witnesses.
In 2023, Guadalupe Contreras went to trial, but it ended in a mistrial when the defense learned that San Antonio police mistakenly erased more evidence.
After an appeal to prevent a retrial was denied, the case was set again in the 379th District Court.
The trial is expected to go to the jury after closing arguments on Wednesday.
If convicted, Contreras faces a sentence of up to life in prison.
More coverage of Guadalupe Contreras’ retrial:
