[October 22, 2009] Carrollton man admits to killing former Coppell teacher Tweet DENTON, Oct 22, 2009 (Fort Worth Star-Telegram - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- A 75-year-old Carrollton man pleaded guilty Thursday to the murder of a former Coppell teacher and was sentenced to 15 years in prison. Leroy Tellgren told a Denton County judge that he murdered Kathleen Garza, 49, in April. Tellgren was arrested shortly after Garza disappeared but did not cooperate with police for several months, officials said. On Oct. 8, however, searchers found Garza's remains near Lewisville Lake. They would not say how they knew to search there, but the speculation was that Tellgren had told them. During the 30-minute hearing Thursday in the 211th District Court in Denton, Garza's family members delivered powerful statements to Tellgren, calling him a liar, coward and murderer of their beloved wife, mother and sibling. Garza disappeared the morning of April 16, after video captured her buying coffee with Tellgren at a Coppell coffee shop and then walking with him to his pickup in the parking lot. Officer's later found Garza's jewelry in Tellgren's pocket and blood on seat fragments from his pickup, according to an arrest warrant affidavit in the case. Six months after Garza's disappearance, searchers found clothing, bones and hair near Texas 121 and Fish Hatchery Road in Denton County. The Tarrant County medical examiner's office determined that the remains were Garza's. Garza's husband, Raul Garza, has said that his wife met Tellgren when they both worked at a school. Raul Garza said his wife was interested in business ventures that Tellgren claimed to be involved with. But he said that the businesses were fakes and that police had told him that Tellgren, "had nothing to his name other than his home in Carrollton." Kathleen Garza used to teach business and computer skills to middle school students in Coppell, but she chose to this year to be a stay-at-home mom, he husband said. Bill Miller, 817-390-7684 Looking for comments? To see more of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.dfw.com. Copyright (c) 2009, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Texas Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]