ATASCOSA COUNTY, Texas — A Poteet man wanted for murder has turned himself in to authorities Wednesday morning, according to the Atascosa County Sheriff's Office.
A warrant for Jimmy Garza's arrest was issued this month after a grand jury indictment. The 63-year-old man is suspected of shooting and killing Brad Rumfeld at the BR Outfitters Taxidermy Shop this past February. It was the first homicide in the Poteet community of the year. The Texas Rangers led the investigation, according to the sheriff's office.
Garza's bond was set at $100,000 by a District Judge.
The deadly shooting took place at the same facility where officials found dozens of rotting deer carcasses in January. KENS 5 spoke to Garza, the landlord of the building, while authorities investigated the discovery.
Officials with Texas Parks and Wildlife say that on Jan. 9, game wardens and the Poteet Police Department were called to the facility after reports of a rotting smell from the building. They say that when law enforcement officers went inside, they found deer carcasses lying in a pile on the floor of a walk-in cooler.
They responded by locking down the business; the owner was not allowed to remove the meat from the facility.
Texas game wardens, Poteet Police officers, and a Texas Health and Human Services inspector returned to the facility on Jan. 13. They ended up finding a total of 50 white-tailed deer carcasses, with several coolers and tubs of trimmings.
A spokesperson said it was “unfit for human consumption.”
Garza told KENS 5 he was the one who initially called police after neighbors complained of the smell. He took pictures of the decaying mess inside the building.
“When I first went in, it smelled like death. Rotting dead animals. Carcasses that had maggots coming out them. The death smell turned into an ammonium smell,” Garza said. “I told him he needs to hire more people, because it’s a lot of work to do it yourself. But I guess he wasn’t doing the work either.”