For more than 40 years, Fernando Cota’s final resting place was Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery in San Antonio, Texas. The Vietnam War Army veteran was buried there after dying by suicide in 1984.
But after Cota’s grizzly past came to light, and under a new federal law, the convicted rapist and alleged serial murderer will no longer spend eternity at the veterans’ cemetery. Under the National Defense Authorization Act, officials plan to exhume Cota’s grave and re-bury him at another cemetery.
Along with the rape conviction, Cota was the leading suspect in the murders of six women. He killed himself more than 40 years ago after being stopped by police.
Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), co-sponsor of the bill before it was signed into law by President Trump, said in a statement to KSAT in San Antonio that Fort Sam Houston is no place for Cota.
“Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery is a sacred resting place for more than 170,000 respected veterans and their loved ones, and it would be a slap in the face to each one of them to allow Fernando Cota, a convicted rapist and alleged serial murderer, to remain buried amongst such heroes,” said Cornyn.
“This law rightfully directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to disinter Cota’s remains from Fort Sam Houston to be in keeping with current law and deliver justice for victims’ families.”
A Life of Crime and Disfunction
Cota lived a bizarre and frightening life after leaving the military.
He received his draft notice to join the Army in the mid-1960s and served in Vietnam. Living in California after service, he was charged with sexual assault multiple times and police eventually linked him to the deaths of six women in San Jose, California, according to a press release from Cornyn’s office.
He was found guilty of rape in 1975 after binding a nurse and sexually assaulting her in El Paso, Texas. He spent eight years in a Texas prison before being released on parole in 1983.
The following year, police pulled Cota over for driving erratically. After officers requested to look inside his van, he said, “I’m a very sick man.” He then pulled out a gun and shot himself to death.
In the van, police spotted a wooden box containing a body – 21-year-old Kim Marie Dunham who was reported missing a day earlier.
Following his suicide, detectives searched Cota’s house and were aghast at what they found; a small prison cell where he likely tortured victims, containing handcuffs, leg shackles and a peephole. Through fingerprints on the cell’s walls, investigators were able to identify the women who faced death in that brutal chamber through strangulation, beatings or stabbings.
According to police, Cota also had false identification, a fake police badge, women’s clothing, including six pairs of shoes, and fliers the veteran posted throughout the San Jose University campus looking for roommates.
Veterans convicted of such heinous crimes are exempt from burial at national cemeteries, however that law wasn’t in the books when Cota was buried in 1984.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) also sponsored the National Defense Authorization Act.
“A convicted rapist should not be buried with honor among our nation’s heroes,” Cruz said in a statement.
Victim’s Son Sparks Action
The push to remove Cota’s grave from the national veterans’ cemetery began when the son of Teresa Sunder, who was allegedly killed by Cota, created a petition pushing Congress to intervene.
Now, the removal of Cota’s remains will be in the hands of the Department of Veterans Affairs’ National Cemetery Administration, which has not released a timetable for disinterment, but a representative from Cornyn’s office informed KSAT that removal should be complete in less than a year.
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