Montoya sentenced to life in prison for double murder

Marie Heinz

A Poteet man accused of killing two Leming women in 2023 pleaded guilty to double homicide Monday and accepted a plea deal of life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Rosendo Jesus Montoya, 28, accepted the plea as District Judge Russell H. Wilson presided over court at the Atascosa County Justice Center in Jourdanton. Montoya graduated with honors from Poteet High School in 2013.

Montoya was charged with capital murder in July 5, 2023, in connection with the deaths of Mary Heinz, 33, and Laura West, 43, Leming’s roommates. Both were shot with a 9mm pistol, which Montoya had purchased about a month earlier, according to reports.

“It’s not just the process of waiting (for the verdict),” said Michele Heinz, Mary’s mother. “It’s a process of dealing with emotions that you’ve never felt before. It’s the hardest and it’s hard to explain what they are, but it’s like the deepest devastation. It’s honest and it breaks my heart. I’m really grateful for the investigative team and their exemplary work.”

Laura West

Michele described Mary as a caring person to many people.

“She’s kind, loving and asked him out once,” she added emotionally. “He made a mistake and started stalking her. And then he murdered her.”

Deputies from the Atascosa County Sheriff's Office and Leming VFD responded to a house fire in Leming on June 29, 2023, and found West shot inside the home.

The initial call about a fire at the residence came from a third temporary roommate who found smoke coming from the structure at 5 a.m., leading to the discovery. During the initial investigation, police learned that West's roommate, Heinz, was missing.

According to prosecutor Audrey Louis, Heinz briefly dated Montoya, but after they ended their relationship, he became obsessed with her.

“Mary’s death is a single woman’s worst nightmare in a relationship,” Louis said. “He stalked her and waited at her house to end her life.”

Rosendo Montoya is escorted out of the Atascosa County Justice Center after pleading guilty to double homicide. Montoya was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. As part of his plea, the state demanded that the defendant waive his right to appeal. DANIEL ELIZONDO | PLEASANTON EXPRESS

Louis said Laura West arrived at her home shortly afterward and Montoya shot and killed her. He then tried to cover up the crime scene by lighting a fire near her body and took Mary's body with him in a container he had purchased earlier to store her remains.

“I didn’t know anything else about him, other than she said he was very strange and she misinterpreted what she was doing by being nice to him,” Michele said. “It just goes to show that you can’t always be nice to people you don’t really know. Because it turned out he was a monster.”

On Monday, July 3, 2023, Atascosa County Sheriff David Soward reported that a man identified as Montoya had been placed under surveillance by the ACSO investigative team.

According to Soward, Montoya was working at a fast food restaurant in Pleasanton when two ACSO investigators saw the suspect exit the restaurant, then move his vehicle near a dumpster and retrieve two black plastic trash bags from the car to place in the dumpster as he left work for the evening.

About 45 minutes later, Soward said, investigators stopped the suspect and questioned him on the side of the road. At the same time, investigators went to the dumpster and retrieved the two black plastic trash bags and discovered they contained partial human remains, Soward said.

Montoya was arrested and questioned after confessing to killing Heinz and West. He then led investigators to where he dumped Heinz's body on a county road five miles north of Poteet.

Soward praised his investigative team and described Montoya as a “monster” and a “serial killer in the making.”

“Today’s motion means Montoya can no longer harm anyone outside of prison walls,” Louis said. “While it does not erase the horrific murders of Mary Heinz and Laura West or the pain inflicted on their children and families throughout their lives, it spares the family and our community the pain of a trial.”

As part of its argument, the State demanded that the defendant waive his right to appeal.

“You’re a little evil weasel,” Michele told Montoya in her court statement. “And your family, look at what you’re doing to them. Please look at me. That’s what Mary would look like if she were here. Shame on you.”

Montoya showed no remorse as he heard the final verdict and listened to Mary's mother's statement about the impact of the crime on the victim.

“We are grateful to the entire Atascosa County Sheriff’s Office Investigations Division for their tenacity, courage and skill, as well as the hours of work dedicated to this case by Deputy Prosecutor Erika Price and Legal Assistant Alyssa Lerma. Justice is served.”