Texas man gets 2 life sentences for child sexual assault, faces charges in Arizona

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(Source: Texas Department of Public Safety)

TEXAS - The man responsible for sex crimes against two young girls, one in East Texas and one in Arizona, will now spend the rest of his life behind bars after being convicted of the Texas crimes. 

Last week, a Rusk County, Texas grand jury sentenced 62-year-old David Roy Mundt in the Texas case on two counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child.

October 1992 in Henderson, Texas

According to officials with the Texas Department of Public Safety, on Oct. 28, 1992, Mundt broke into a home in Rusk County and dragged a 7-year-old from her bed, and sexually assaulted her in the backyard of the home before running from the scene. 

DNA evidence collected at the scene was submitted to the Combined DNA Inex System (CODIS). CODIS is a national database to check for possible DNA matches from people who have been arrested and for unsolved cases nationwide. 

A suspect was never identified, and no arrest was made in the case. 

In December 2022, the DPS Crime Laboratory in Garland, Texas notified the Texas Rangers of a possible DNA match between the 1992 case in Rusk County and a similar case that happened in Phoenix, Arizona from 1986. 

July 1986 in Phoenix, Arizona

On July 6, 1986, Phoenix officers were called after the parents of a toddler reported the kidnapping of their child. The parents told officers they woke up and realized that their home had been burglarized overnight and that their child was missing from their bedroom. 

The child was found not long after by neighbors and was returned home. 

Officers learned that the child had been kidnapped and assaulted by an unknown person before being found. 

The scene was processed, and the investigation began. Despite concerted efforts by the original investigators, the case was not solved and went cold.

DNA Match Found

The Texas Rangers coordinated with the Phoenix Police Department in 2022 after the possible DNA match was found. They learned DNA samples from the 1986 case were eligible for advanced DNA testing and genealogy research.

On June 15, 2024, testing and research identified two brothers as possible suspects. The first brother was eventually ruled out because his DNA was already in the CODIS database and would have previously produced a positive match. 

Investigators then obtained a DNA sample from the second brother, David Roy Mundt, for testing and comparison through DPS’ Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI) program. 

The sample collected from David Roy Mundt was sent for expedited DNA testing, which gave a positive match. 

David Mundt Arrested

On Aug. 7, 2024, the Texas Rangers, Texas Highway Patrol and Longview Police Department arrested Mundt at his home in Gregg Co., Texas.

In August 2024, Mundt was indicted by a Rusk Co. grand jury on two counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child in the 1992 Texas case, and on April 25, 2025, he was convicted and sentenced to two consecutive life terms in prison. 

In August 2024, Phoenix detectives established probable cause for the case in Phoenix, and an arrest warrant was issued for Mundt for kidnapping and sexual assault. 

He is expected to be extradited to Phoenix to face the charges there.