Tomball Police believe a man in the U.S. illegally, and currently incarcerated in federal prison, is responsible for a murder that has remained unsolved for eight years.

Last week, the Harris County District Attorney’s Office formally charged 34-year-old Joel Guadalupe Sanches with the murder of Sandra Williams, 34 at the time of her death.

Williams’ decomposing body was found in a wooded area on Persimmon Street in Tomball on Jan. 24, 2003. According to Capt. Ricky Doerre of the Tomball Police Department, a Tomball man was out flying a remote controlled plane in a nearby field when the plane crashed into a patch of trees.

As the man was searching for his crashed plane, he discovered Williams’ body. Doerre said that also found nearby was a sledgehammer, which the suspect used to kill Williams. Doerre added that an autopsy determined Williams was killed by blunt force trauma to the head.

During the subsequent investigation, DNA samples were collected, which revealed “a DNA sample matching that of the victim, Sandra Williams, as well as an unknown sample from a male contributor.”

Doerre said that Williams had also been sexually assaulted prior to her death.

The DNA samples were then submitted into the nationwide Combined DNA Index System, or CODIS. According to the Tomball PD, CODIS is “a computer system that stores DNA profiles created by federal, state and local crime laboratories in the United States with the ability to search the database to assist in the identification of suspects in crimes.”

For the next several months and years, a multi-jurisdictional investigation was conducted, which included the Tomball Police Department and the Texas Rangers and extended into cities such as Dallas and Eagle Pass.

Doerre explained that after interviews with friends and associates of Williams, the case went cold and “all leads had been exhausted.” The only thing that remained was the DNA profile of the suspect in the CODIS system.

Then, in November 2010, the Tomball Police Department received a match in the CODIS system from Harris County.

Sanchez had been arrested on a burglary charge and was identified as an illegal immigrant. He was then incarcerated in a federal holding facility in Montgomery County. State law requires than anyone being held in a federal jail must submit DNA samples.

“In the months that followed, Tomball investigators continued to build their case against Joel Sanchez by re-interviewing individuals that had been identified in the initial stages of the investigation,” the Tomball PD stated in a release.

Doerre said that after interviewing associates and friends of Williams, investigators determined that Sanchez personally knew Williams and shared a sexual relationship with her. He added that there was an “issue” between Williams and Sanchez over Sanchez’s vehicle and that Williams may have used it without his permission.

Doerre said the next step was to determine why Sanchez would dispose of Williams’ body in Tomball. Further investigation revealed that Sanchez had family living in the city on Timpkin Lane.

Sgt. Gary Hammond, who has led the investigation into Williams’ death, said that in the eight years since her murder, Sanchez has been living mostly in the Conroe area, working as a day laborer.

Since the DNA match, Tomball PD investigators have attempted to interview Sanchez. Doerre said he has refused twice to do so and when shown photos of Williams, has denied knowing her or having ever seen her.

Sanchez is currently being held at a federal detention center in Houston under a no-bond.

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