The victim had wounds to his head, face, neck, chest and back.
A week later, police used finger prints to determine it was 56-year-old Jose De La Cruz Esquivel of Highlandtown, a man who had been reported missing by his son two days before his body turned up, and police began the task of tracking down who killed him.
"We look into the victim’s background, anything they might have been doing recently,” said Cpl. John Wachter of the Baltimore County Police Department, “Obviously, we're going to talk to a lot of people, evidence, reach out to the public when we do these initial reports. Sometimes we get tips so that can help us put the puzzle together."
More than four months later, police believe they have completed that puzzle, arresting 19-year-old Patrick Glynn Wallace on a first-degree murder charge.
"Our investigation has indicated that the suspect and the victim were acquaintances,” said Wachter, “They had met at a location in Owings Mills and during that meeting there was an argument. During the argument, the suspect stabbed the victim repeatedly."
According to charging documents, Wallace had been in contact with Esquivel through Craigslist and set up the rendezvous four days before the body was discovered.
He then allegedly enlisted the help of 20-year-old David Levy Daniels to dispose of the body, allegedly stealing the victim's vehicle, his cellular telephone and his wallet in the process.
The alleged killer, Wallace, and Daniels, who is being charged as an accessory after the fact, are both being held at the Baltimore County Detention Center without bail.
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