Dallas man on Texas death row says execution next week would be for a double murder he ‘did not commit'

A North Texas mother is on a desperate crusade to save her son’s life.

Ivan Cantu, 50, is less than a week away from his scheduled execution after being convicted of murdering his cousin James Mosqueda and his cousin’s girlfriend Amy Kitchen in Mosqueda's Collin County home in 2000.

A Dallas native, Cantu was 28 years old at the time of his conviction and insists he is innocent.

“Looking at the evidence and you do that, you’ll clearly know that I did not commit this crime,” said Cantu during an interview this week with Telemundo national.

Cantu’s conviction in 2001 has garnered national attention because of a podcast called ‘Cousins by Blood’ launched by Matt Duff in 2020.

Duff says his investigations do not prove Cantu’s innocence but do point to irregularities in his murder trial.

Cantu’s mother Sylvia spoke with NBC 5 from Livingston where she and other supporters are planning a rally pleading for a stay of execution.

Cantu’s execution has been halted twice before, in 2012 and 2023.

“Ivan deserves a fair trial,” said Sylvia Cantu. “We have the newly discovered evidence that should have been presented 23 years ago that can exonerate him.”

Cantu’s attorney, Gena Bunn, says they have found evidence they believe discredits the testimony of the main prosecution witness — Amy Boettcher, Cantu’s ex-fiancée — and casts doubts on his guilt.

According to police records from Nov. 7, 2000, jeans and socks with drops of blood from the victims were found in Cantu’s kitchen trash can. Boettcher told police that he had committed the murders. Boettcher’s brother, Jeff Boettcher, testified at the trial that Cantu had told him he planned to kill Mosqueda and had tried to recruit him to “clean up” after the murder. But in 2022, a year after his sister Amy died at the age of 44, Jeff Boettcher recanted his testimony, claiming he had been under the influence of drugs and that the conversation “never happened.”

“He was recanting because of the fact that it never happened,” said Cantu’s mother. “He didn’t want an innocent man dying because of him.”

NBC 5 asked the Collin County District Attorney Greg Willis for comment. Willis provided the following statement:

“I remain fully convinced that Ivan Cantu brutally murdered two innocent victims in 2000. My belief is anchored in the undeniable evidence presented at trial, reinforced by over two decades of exhaustive state and federal appeals post-conviction. This compelling evidence includes DNA analysis, fingerprint identification, ballistic matching, and corroborating witness testimony. It’s my firm belief that justice has been done in this case and that a Collin County jury’s verdict should be carried out on February 28th.”

Friday, Feb. 23 is Sylvia Cantu’s birthday, she's holding out hope.

“The only birthday I want is Ivan, the only gift is him,” she said. “I just want a chance to have life with my family back and Ivan home.”