Levi Spencer Cotton, 32, was arrested Tuesday at his workplace in Salt Lake City, Utah. He is charged with murder in the July 4, 2017, killing of Joe James Rangel, also known as Jaime Rangel, at Rangel's home on Shady Lane in Seguin. The Guadalupe County Sheriff's Office said Cotton is being held at the Salt Lake County Detention Center while he awaits possible extradition to Guadalupe County.
Rangel, 57, was found with multiple gunshot wounds inside his house in the Meadow Lake subdivision. The case went unsolved for more than nine years. Investigators said the early inquiry stalled, even though reports described an unidentified man seen at Rangel's home the night before the killing. In February, cold-case investigator Charlie Drake joined the case. Investigators said new interviews and evidence reopened leads.
Sheriff Joshua Ray said his office never stopped working the case. A witness told investigators that Cotton confessed to killing Rangel. In 2020, Crime Stoppers received two tips that identified Cotton, and one tipster said he described details about the shooting.