The State of Texas vs. Angel Maturino Resendiz
Charged with the murder of Dr. Claudia Benton
My heart pumped up a bit in my throat. Oh, that case! My mind raced ahead. Who hadn’t heard about this case? Dr. Claudia Benton, a respected Pediatric Medicine Research Specialist, had been found brutally bludgeoned and stabbed to death in her home in the upscale West University Place area of Houston. The murderer had become known as the "Railroad Killer", hitching rides on passing freight trains, jumping off whenever he was struck with the need to kill his victims who all lived in proximity to railroad tracks. Dr. Benton’s home was just a few hundred yards from the freight line tracks running through Southwest Houston. The local inner city residents were astonished that something that brutal could happen in such a nice neighborhood.
After Resendiz’s arrest, he admitted to a string of previously unsolved murders of at least nine other souls. These were the most outrageous and vile crimes committed in anyone’s recent memory. Each victim was not only violently butchered, in some cases raped, but left in such grotesque condition to be found by loved ones and friends, making the crimes more unfathomable, if that was even possible. Those living in Texas, especially this area, were more than just a little knowledgeable about the case. The media had done its job. This murderer was known far and wide. I had, like a lot of the nation, watched the live TV broadcast drama of Resendiz’s surrender to the perfectly outfitted Texas Ranger on the International Bridge in El Paso. It was dramatic. Hollywood couldn’t have written or produced that moment any better.