Mexican Mafia member jailed in '99 slaying

By Ana Ley
Published 10:44 a.m., Thursday, May 24, 2012

Police have arrested a purported Mexican Mafia gang member wanted in a 1999 slaying that happened outside a Northwest Side gas station.

Anthony Rene Paniagua, 34, was arrested Wednesday and charged with murder in the shooting death of Mark Guadarrama, whose body was found in the driver's seat of his mother's pickup in the 4000 block of Northwest Loop 410 on Feb. 6, 1999.

Guadarrama, 20, had been shot in the head, an arrest warrant affidavit said.

Witnesses told police that Paniagua was trying to drive out of the gas station when he accidentally blocked the entrance while a black Ford truck tried to enter. Gunshots then were fired from the black pickup.

Police stopped Paniagua and another man driving a black truck near the scene of the shooting, but they did not arrest the men because a weapon was not located, the affidavit says.

The officer who pulled the men over reportedly “found it odd that without requesting it, (the men) exited the black F-150 truck with their hands raised.”

Police received information from an anonymous tipster two days after the shooting that Paniagua was responsible for the killing.

Detectives identified, located and spoke to the caller 11 years later to further link Paniagua to the crime.

Detectives later found the man who was believed to have been driving the black pickup with Paniagua the day of the shooting.

That man identified Paniagua as the shooter and said he had disposed of the gun and several shell casings at his parent's house, about a mile away from the crime scene.

In an interview with detectives October 2010, Paniagua admitted being in the truck and grabbing the weapon after becoming upset with Guadarrama, but he denied firing the gun.

Earlier this month, police spoke again to the man driving the black truck. He said Paniagua had forced at least one of the shell casings into the ground at his parent's house, which is still registered to the couple.

aley@express-news.net

Mexican Mafia member jailed in '99 slaying - San Antonio Express-News