Man held in death of Farmersville woman
Police give no details on what led them to arrest in abduction, slaying
11:25 PM CST on Wednesday, March 24, 2004
FARMERSVILLE – Police arrested a 20-year-old local man Wednesday night and charged him with capital murder in the abduction and slaying of a young mother taken from her home last week.
Moises Sandoval Mendoza of Farmersville was being held with bail set at $500,000 in the death of Rachelle O'Neil Tolleson, 20, whose burned body was found in a creek bed in far eastern Collin County on Tuesday.
Police said Mr. Mendoza was arrested about 8 p.m. Wednesday but did not give any details about what led them to take him into custody or whether they were seeking other suspects.
According to Dallas County criminal records, Mr. Mendoza faces three first-degree felony indictments in connection with a series of aggravated robberies in Dallas on March 23 and 24, 2003. He has yet to go to trial in those cases, court records show.
Mr. Mendoza also was charged with a misdemeanor assault last April, accused of attacking a relative in Farmersville, but Collin County court records are unclear about the status of that case.
Ms. Tolleson vanished after 10:30 p.m. March 17, her 6-month-old baby left on a bed in the small frame house on McKinney Street, just blocks from the town's police station. Her burned body was discovered by an arrowhead hunter Tuesday afternoon about three miles east of town.
Farmersville Police Chief Wayne Pickett announced the arrest in a brief news conference about 9 p.m. Wednesday.
Asked whether Mr. Mendoza was acquainted with Ms. Tolleson and her estranged husband, the chief said only, "in this small town, everybody knows everybody."
Earlier Wednesday, Chief Pickett told reporters that everyone associated with Ms. Tolleson was considered a suspect and that officers were sorting through "tons of evidence" in the case. It was unclear Wednesday night what portion of that evidence might have led police to Mr. Mendoza.
Authorities had given a voluntary polygraph test to Ms. Tolleson's husband, Andrew Tolleson, and had planned to test 10 others, Chief Pickett said. Mr. Tolleson was not available for comment Wednesday. The couple married last May, but family and authorities have not said when they separated.
Investigators also had been checking for any connection between Ms. Tolleson's death and the theft of her car three weeks before her disappearance.
Chief Pickett said his reports show the car was stolen while parked at a friend's house and recovered days later. Ms. Tolleson's purse and house keys, however, were missing.
The chief said relatives have told him that Ms. Tolleson did not change the locks to the house, nor did she feel threatened or report that anyone was stalking her. Chief Pickett said earlier Tuesday that a suspect in that theft would be questioned and his fingerprints compared with evidence collected last week.
Meanwhile, Ms. Tolleson's family gathered at her parents' home just east of town to grieve.
Family friend Brent Wise read a short statement that thanked the scores of police officers and volunteers who spread out across surrounding pastures and woods to search for Ms. Tolleson.
Relatives declined to comment through Mr. Wise, asking well-wishers to understand that they needed to "seek closure to this tragedy" in private.
On East Main Street at McCloud's Store, the news of Ms. Tolleson's death cast a somber tone as customers wandered in to buy lottery tickets, gas and chat with clerk Barbara Upchurch.
"The worst of it is thinking about what her family is going through right now," Ms. Upchurch said with tears welling in her eyes.
Chief Pickett stopped by to buy a cold drink during a break from fielding phone calls on the case, the exhaustion showing on his face.
His seven-officer department has been working 12-hour shifts since last week, but most of his people have been putting in 18 to 20 hours a day lately to answer phone calls on leads and to help gather evidence.
Farmersville police asked that anyone with information about Ms. Tolleson's killing call 972-782-6141.
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