Police: Video shows neighbor killing man
39-year-old charged with murder, arson after house set ablaze
There’s video of a man killing his neighbor before setting fire to his house on the West Side, according to San Antonio police.
Baltazar Castaneda, 39, has been charged with murder and arson in the Feb. 27 death of Richard Amesquita, 58, in the 800 block of Northwest 20th Street, between Woodlawn Lake and Elmendorf Lake Park.
Investigators took a deeper dive into the case after Amesquita’s daughter called on March 4 and contradicted reports that her father smoked. They reviewed surveillance footage from a school across the street a few days later.
For about five hours before the fire, Castaneda can be seen pacing back and forth in the street and flaring his arms aggressively, states an arrest affidavit. He appeared “to talk to and motion toward things that were not there,” the document states.
Castaneda did exercises like pushups and burpees in the street and repeatedly walked up to his neighbor’s front porch.
Around 9 p.m., Castaneda knocked on his neighbor’s door. When Amesquita came out onto the porch, the two began to fight, according to police. At some point, Amesquita unsuccessfully tried to escape into his house.
Castaneda can be seen moving the man’s body inside and returning to his own home, according to the affidavit.
Just before midnight, investigators said Castaneda went back to Amesquita’s house. The video shows a flicker — like that of a lighter — at the house’s front door. As the flames increased, investigators said he leaned and thrust toward them “consistent with someone stoking a fire.”
About an hour later, fire trucks started arriving at the scene. In the meantime, police said, Castaneda “documented the many phases of the combustion process.”
His bail totals $400,000.