Joe Edward Duque, an 18-year-old Hispanic male from San Antonio, was found brutally beaten to death with a three-foot cedar post on March 2, 1981. His killing was later linked by authorities to a series of violent homicides that spanned San Antonio and Dallas and shared a pattern of extreme overkill and mutilation.

Police connected Duque’s murder to 25-year-old Hispanic drifter David Villarreal, who was arrested in March 1981 and charged with multiple counts of murder. Villarreal confessed to seven killings, including Duque’s, and told investigators he killed for personal gratification and preferred execution to imprisonment. Investigators said the crimes frequently involved implements such as ice picks, hammers, and blocks and bore strong homosexual overtones.

San Antonio authorities prepared to charge Villarreal in three murders, including Duque’s, after coordinating with Dallas police. Does anyone have information about Duque’s life in San Antonio or knew him before March 1981?