Sounak Sengupta
Netflix’s ‘I Am A Killer: Honorable Intentions’ documents the investigation process that led to police capturing the people responsible for the death of Esequiel Fonseca. In December 1996, he was found shot in his car on the Texas 8 Beltway while returning home from work. The police had initially chalked it out as a case of robbery since the victim’s wallet was missing. However, it turned out to be a lot for complicated and sinister than the authorities might have believed at first. So who is Esequiel Fonseca’s wife, Carmen Fonseca, and what role did she play in the murder? Let’s find out, shall we?
Who is Carmen Fonseca?
On December 22, 1996, while working on the Texas 8 Beltway, a group of construction crew stumbled on a white Lincoln standing against the concrete barrier on the side of the road. One of the workers noticed a man slumped on the driving wheel and informed the authorities. The emergency respondents declared him dead, and the police discovered that the victim had been shot at least seven times in the head, torso, and neck. His wallet was also missing, and there were 9mm bullet casings at the scene. The victim was identified as Esequiel “Big Zeke” Fonseca.
While the police were investigating the crime scene, a woman stopped by. She identified herself as Carmen Cantu Fonseca, the wife of the victim. Carmen and Big Zeke had been married for 25 years and were parents to four kids. At the time of the incident, the couple resided in Sagemont, Houston. Big Zeke used to work in Crown Cork and Seal, now known as Crown Holdings, Inc., in Sugar Land, Texas. When he did not return home the night before – December 21 – and his colleague called Carmen to report him not coming to work the following morning, Carmen said she drove along the course Big Zeke took while driving from work to their home.
While retracing the route, Carmen said she saw the police and her husband’s car and stopped. She even went voluntarily to the police station to give a statement. She maintained that she did not know anything about the homicide and was just a worried wife who had been searching for her husband. However, the ruse did not last long; the police arrested the murderer, a teen named Mark Sam Arthur, while driving a stolen car. He was found in possession of the murder weapon, and the ballistic reports proved his fully loaded Glock 9mm handgun was the same gun that fired the bullets into Big Zeke.
The investigators soon understood that Carmen and Mark were related; Carmen and Big Zeke’s son Esqeuiel “Little Zeke” Fonseca, Jr. was a member of a Houston street gang named Maniac Latin Disciple Nation, of which Mark was also a part. Both used to commit robberies together, and when Little Zeke got arrested, Mark used to visit the Fonseca residence.
As per the court documents, Mark had an affair with Carmen, which allegedly resulted in her getting pregnant and later enduring a miscarriage. According to investigators, Carmen hatched a plan to murder her husband with Mark, who was 17 at the time, and another juvenile accomplice to get the $220,000 life insurance money of which she was the sole beneficiary. It was stated that she offered cash and Big Zeke’s car to Mark to kill her husband.
Mark said that due to certain issues in his childhood, he abhorred domestic abusers. Both Mark and Carmen alleged that Big Zeke abused Carmen. Mark said that it’s why he once beat Big Zeke, which caused the latter to threaten him. It was also theorized that Big Zeke might have come to know about the affair. The authorities believed that Mark feared retaliation and ended up killing Big Zeke.
Where is Carmen Fonseca Today?
Whatever the motive might have been, it was clear to the authorities that Carmen Fonseca had collaborated with the hitmen in killing her husband. She gave a lot of conflicting statements to the police, but in her last statement on January 17, 1997, she admitted to discussing murdering her husband with Mark. Carmen also admitted to helping Mark know about Big Zeke’s whereabouts with the help of a pager and later giving him money. However, she insisted she didn’t tell Arthur to kill her husband.
However, the protection, jury, and the court found it hard to believe Carmen’s version of events. Mark’s juvenile accomplice testified against her in court in exchange for a plea deal of 10 years. On April 3, 1998, Carmen Fonseca was sentenced to life imprisonment on charges of capital murder. She is presently incarcerated in a cell at the William P. Hobby Unit in Marlin, Texas. According to inmate records, Carmen can be eligible for parole on January 16, 2037.
Read More: Where is Esequiel Fonseca’s Killer Mark Arthur Now?
