Inset: Victor Sigala (Bexar County Jail). Background: The area near where Sigala allegedly beat a man to death in San Antonio, Texas (Google Maps).
A Texas man is behind bars after telling people he killed another man with a baseball bat, law enforcement officials in the Lone Star State say.
Victor Sigala, 51, stands accused of first-degree murder, according to the San Antonio Police Department. The incident occurred May 8, when 39-year-old Eric Perez was found beaten to death in an abandoned residence on Prairie Hill Street in far southwest San Antonio.
The victim was beaten so badly that it initially appeared he had been shot in the head, according to a police report obtained by local ABC affiliate KSAT. A neighbor called 911 on the day of the alleged attack because they believed someone inside may have been shot, police said.
Arriving officers performed a protective sweep and found a "pool of blood" near the presumed gunshot victim. Perez was found dead at the scene with severe trauma to the back of his head.
Investigators later learned he had been beaten to death.
While investigating the outside area, police were approached by a neighbor who lives across the street, according to an arrest affidavit obtained by KSAT. The neighbor, who had "visible facial injuries," said he and Perez had been in an "altercation" earlier that same day.
Police then obtained a warrant for the neighbor's home and seized surveillance footage from cameras facing where Perez was killed. While inside, investigators also noticed Sigala asleep, police said. The defendant allegedly spoke when roused, but his apparent first words to law enforcement are redacted from the affidavit.
Investigators eventually pored over the surveillance footage and saw that three masked men entered the residence in the moments just before Perez was killed, police said. Then the men left.
As the men leave, however, one man is seen removing his mask, the footage allegedly shows. Police identified that man as Sigala. In the footage, the man identified as the defendant is seen arriving and leaving with an aluminum baseball bat, according to law enforcement.
A witness came forward who identified himself as a "close friend" of Sigala and who said he spoke with him the night Perez was killed.
"I hit him with a bat," the defendant allegedly told his friend. "He wasn't moving."
Another witness — who said they had known Sigala for around 30 years — also came forward and told police that they spoke with the defendant a few days after the violence while at a park.
"I hit him first," Sigala allegedly told the longtime friend. "I knew I killed him."
The defendant also told the second witness another person hit Perez with a metal rod and yet another kicked him during the attack. Law enforcement has yet to identify the other two individuals believed to have been involved in the fatal attack.
On Monday, Sigala was arrested and is currently detained in the Bexar County Jail on $250,000 bond, court records show.