Posted on 02/09/2012 3:31:30 PM PST by SwinneySwitch
EDINURG — A capital murder suspect made his involvement in the kidnapping and slaying of a coworker too obvious when he hid the body at his brother’s property, Sheriff Lupe Treviño said.
A passer-by found the body of German Duque Gonzalez, 65, on Feb. 1 under a pile of tires in the 4600 block of Marshall Street north of Palmview.
Gonzalez, a baker, left his Alton home at 1 a.m. that same morning to begin his bread-making shift at Valeria’s Bakery in Mission — a routine he had followed for the past two years.
He never made it to work.
“He was kidnapped at some point between his residence and his place of business,” Treviño said Wednesday.
Investigators believe three of Gonzalez’s coworkers intercepted and killed him.
Autopsy results for Gonzalez indicate he suffered blunt force head trauma indicative of a beating and strangulation, records show.
Last week, the Gonzalez family told a Monitor reporter they suspected at least one coworker at the bakery had taken part in their loved one’s death because of several previous altercations Gonzalez had at his place of employment.
They relayed the information to deputies and when investigators looked up the property records for the land where Gonzalez’s body was dumped, they realized there was a connection between the property owner and one of the three alleged assailants — Jose Fernando Cervantes, 34.
Cervantes’ brother, whom authorities did not identify, owns the land where Cervantes and the two other coworkers dumped Gonzalez’s body, Treviño said.
“It was too obvious,” he said of the connection. “Too coincidental.”
Investigators also obtained surveillance video from multiple locations that showed a white Pontiac Bonneville sedan following Gonzalez’s 1994 Mercury Grand Marquis as both vehicles made their way to Weslaco, where the three coworkers abandoned Gonzalez’s vehicle after killing him, Treviño said.
That Bonneville also belongs to Cervantes, court documents show.
Deputies questioned him and he confessed, Treviño said.
Justice of the Peace Charlie Espinoza charged Cervantes, an illegal immigrant, with capital murder Wednesday and set his bond at $1 million. Authorities placed an immigration detainer on him to prevent him from bailing out.
The two other men, also illegal immigrants, remained on the run Wednesday.
Cervantes told investigators he killed Gonzalez because he wanted to find the location of a stash house in Reynosa.
“According to them, they knew that the victim and his family were involved in the trafficking of drugs and (humans) and they wanted the location,” Treviño said. “Of course, the family has denied all of that and this is the only motive that we have at this point.”
Investigators are looking into it, but so far they have found no evidence that this is true, he added. Investigators are also forwarding the bakery’s information to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials because the business employed illegal immigrants. It is up to ICE to follow up on that case.
If Cervantes is convicted, he could face the death penalty.
The victim was a baker. I guess one can say that now he is toast.
Not could get the needle. He should get the needle and be put in the express line to get the needle.
Send them all back!!!
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