Suspected Texas Serial Killer Accused of Murders at Age 18, 6-Year Gap Raises Victim Fears

A criminal profiler warned that a suspected serial killer in Texas may have begun his crimes years earlier than typical, with fears of more victims due to a six-year gap between charged murders.

Luis Benitez-Gonzalez, a 26-year-old Mexican national previously deported, faces accusations of strangling two women near Austin, Texas, in 2018 and 2024. Austin police announced his arrest earlier this week after two other women survived shootings in November and December 2025. One survivor fought back and took the attacker's cellphone, police said.

"The rub for me...is that he is accused of killing Alba Jenisse Aviles-Marti when he was only about 18 years old," said John Kelly, a criminal profiler who tracked the case before the arrest by Austin police and U.S. Marshals. "We worked hard looking for this guy, because we believed there was a serial killer in this area. Little did we expect a budding serial killer who allegedly started killing at 18."

Kelly, founder of STALK Inc., noted that serial killers usually begin between ages 23 and 35. "This is extremely rare," he told Fox News Digital. "We usually never find out who the first victims really were. I just wonder how many this guy has killed with his homicidal anger towards women over the years?"

Investigators share those concerns. "We believe that there is a strong likelihood that Benitez is responsible for further acts of extreme violence," said Austin Police homicide detective Chris Anderson. Police are reviewing other cases for links and ask anyone with information on Benitez-Gonzalez to call the Austin Police Homicide unit at 512-974-8477 or Capital Area Crime Stoppers at 512-472-8477.

The suspect, who self-deported in 2020 and later reentered the U.S., has ties to Austin, Houston, Dallas and Hidalgo County. Authorities filed charges Tuesday for the murders of Aviles-Marti and Alyssa Ann Rivera, whose remains turned up three miles apart in 2024.

Anderson called the six-year gap suspicious, citing evidence of a repeated pattern of violence against vulnerable women. "He has a 2018 case, and he has a 2024 case," Anderson said. "People who commit crimes of this nature, with the very distinct MO, they usually don't take a break."

Benitez-Gonzalez also faces charges for the two 2025 shootings. He claimed self-defense in all four incidents, but authorities reject that account. He has not entered a plea.