Without revealing any details of the murder investigation building against Israel "Juan Carlos" Tellez, Chief Deputy District Attorney Anne Langer said Thursday he will be charged in the kidnapping and killing of a Carson City mother.
"It's no longer a question of 'if' we are going to file charges, but 'when,'" she said. "We feel fortunate with the fact that we have the ability to complete the investigation because Tellez is serving a prison term over in Utah and he's not getting out any time soon."
Langer's statement came one day after the one-year anniversary of Bertha Anguiano's disappearance.
The 33-year-old married mother of three was last seen in front of Empire Elementary School on the morning of Nov. 10, 2003. Some 90 minutes later her youngest son, Andrew, 3, was found with blood on his clothing and clutching a dollar bill in the parking lot of a Dayton grocery store. He told police he'd witnessed his mother's killing at the hands of a man named "Juan."
Through an investigation, police were able to connect Anguiano to Tellez, a man with whom authorities believe the video-store owner was having an affair.
The mystery of where the married mother of three could be, ended Sept. 16 when her bones were found in the Fallon desert a few miles from a motel room Tellez was seen in on the day of her disappearance.
He remains in a Utah prison serving a five-year sentence for drawing a gun on Salt Lake and Carson City police, who were approaching him for questioning.
Langer said Tellez's prison situation makes it easier to cover all the bases in their prosecution.
A forensic pathologist in Chico is examining Anguiano's remains to try to determine a cause of death which takes time, she said.
"This means the sheriff's department will able to complete their investigation."
And although Tellez is eligible for parole every year until his release date in 2009, he still has a Nevada warrant for a traffic citation and an immigration hold.
"Time is on our side," Langer said.
Contact reporter F.T. Norton at ftnorton@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1213.