Man Killed Ex-Girlfriend After She Broke Up with Him, Hid Body in Her Coffee Table

Mario Juan Chacon, a 27-year-old man from Texas, pleaded guilty on February 20 to murdering his ex-girlfriend and tampering with evidence by hiding her body. He was sentenced for murder and tampering with evidence by the court after his guilty plea.

According to the Midland County District Attorney's Office, 142nd District Court Judge David G. Rogers sentenced Chacon to 35 years in prison for murder and 20 years for tampering with evidence. The sentences are expected to run concurrently.

Chacon was arrested in 2023 after police found the remains of his ex-girlfriend, Madeline Pantoja, who was 20 years old at the time. She was reported missing after last being seen on May 10, 2023. Midland police found Pantoja’s remains three miles east of County Road 190 and County Road 1160, about fifteen minutes from her apartment.

Friends and family suspected Chacon after they heard them arguing in the apartment before she went missing. Pantoja's family said Chacon was the only one with a key to her apartment, which was locked when the investigators arrived. All her belongings, including her keys, phone and even the dog, were left behind.

The incident occurred on May 10, 2023, according to the arrest affidavit, which was the last day Pantoja was seen or contacted, as several witnesses reported. Her last communication was with a friend whom she had made plans to go swimming the next day.

When Pantoja did not show up, the friend called her several times without response and sent unanswered text messages. The friend then went directly to her unit at the Palledium Museum Palace Apartment on West Francis Avenue in Midland. No one answered the door.

On May 11, 2023, a welfare check was requested by the victim's brother and Midland police officers were dispatched to her apartment. According to court documents, no one answered the door.

The next day, someone reported hearing a woman's voice from the apartment. Police forced entry into Pantoja's apartment, but found no one. Officers who responded said a mop and a dirty bucket were kept near the door, and the floor was sticky from the use of multiple cleaning products, according to the arrest affidavit.

The coffee table from the apartment was missing, and her dog was left alone inside the apartment without food or water, which friends of Pantoja said she she would never have done. There were holes in the bathroom door and similar damage done to the bedroom door. The comforter was missing, and a large red stain was seen on the bedsheet.

According to the affidavit, Chacon's story changed during his interview. Initially he said he last saw her on May 9 and that he spoke to her by phone the next day. Later, he said he went to meet a cousin on the night Pantoja went missing.

Through a combination of surveillance footage, cell phone signals and location data, the authorities were able to track Chacon's movement on the night in question. In the final camera footage, his truck was seen near South County Road at around 3 in the morning.

Chacon has remained in Midland County Jail on a $3 million bond since his arrest. He will soon be transferred to the Texas Department of Corrections.