A Texas baker interviewed a Texas artist about skull-shaped pastries on Instagram Live and then moments later, he allegedly stabbed the man to death and then burned his body in an alley, police said.
Around 9:30 a.m. on April 3, police said they found the burnt body of Anthony Moreno on Kings Highway. According to authorities, Manuel Tellez, 45, and Moreno just finished an Instagram Live interview about Moreno’s Mexican “sugar skull art,” often called calaveras. Around 12:15 a.m., police say Moreno texted his wife saying he was on his way home.
However, he never made it home. Police say Tellez walked with Moreno to an alley about two blocks away from his business, the Maroches Bakery, and stabbed him multiple times. Tellez then left the scene, changed his clothes and then returned to the alley about three hours later, which is when police say he doused Moreno in gasoline and set his body on fire, according to Yahoo! News.
Surveillance footage seems to track where Tellez went after allegedly stabbing Moreno in the alley, as he was seen at a gas station around 2 a.m. wearing a single white latex glove, similar to the one found at the crime scene, surgical mask, and hat while filling up a portable gas can, police said.
Tellez has a Kia SUV, which was identified in the video also. Surveillance footage from a neighbor’s camera saw the fire start around 3 a.m. Police used cell phone records to show Tellez was at the bakery, alley, and gas station at each time the video footage was captured.
Yahoo! News reported that Tellez and Moreno knew each other through the arts community in Dallas, as well as having had a mutual “romantic interest” in an unnamed woman. So, was a lover’s triangle the issue?
A GoFundMe was created by Moreno’s family and Tellez actually shared the link on social media in the days following his death. Moreno’s wife, Ofelia Moreno, wrote on social media, “He killed my husband and made it seem like everything was normal,” Yahoo! News reported.
Tellez was charged with Moreno’s murder and is being held at a Dallas County jailhouse with bond set at $1.5 million, officials said. This is an active case and the investigation continues, police said.
