Man held in killing of 6 men in Valley
Posted on 01/18/2003 5:09:13 AM PST by MeekOneGOP
Man held in killing of 6 men in Valley
More arrests seen in what police call a home invasion gone bad
01/18/2003
BROWNSVILLE - A 25-year-old Lower Rio Grande Valley man was being held Friday in lieu of $18 million bail for the shooting deaths of six men in what border officials here say was one of the worst massacres in recent years.
Police say they expect more arrests.
Marcial Bocanegra was charged with six counts of capital murder and is being held at the Hidalgo County jail.
"Normally on capital murder charges, bonds are usually very high," said Edinburg Police Chief Quirino Muñoz. "We're not surprised at the bond."
Mr. Bocanegra was arrested Thursday at a home in northeast Brownsville.
Sgt. Rey Ramirez, chief of investigations with the Edinburg Police Department, said Mr. Bocanegra did not act alone. "There's still more people to come," he said. "I'm real happy because this is a break in the case."
The six men were killed Jan. 5 in Edinburg, the Hidalgo County seat. It is about an hour west of Brownsville.
Sgt. Ramirez described the crime as a home invasion gone bad.
"We're looking at just a regular routine home invasion, dopers ripping off other dopers, you know what I mean," he said. "The home invasion situation got really out of hand, and they really went to the extremes. ... They were looking for drugs and money and guns."
According to Edinburg police, three to five men in ski masks and one wearing a jacket that read "POLICE" entered a home looking for drugs and weapons and then went to a house next door. Police said they found drugs in one of the houses.
The mother of two of the shooting victims - Jerry Hidalgo, 24, and Ray Hidalgo, 30 - survived the attack. She was tied up with an electrical cord and forced to face the wall when one of her sons was shot. The Hidalgo brothers lived at the targeted home.
Sgt. Ramirez said Mr. Bocanegra is "not sharing any information." They said it was not known whether he knew any of the victims - the Hidalgo brothers, brothers Juan Delgado Jr., 32, and Juan Delgado III, 20; Ruben Rolando Castillo, 32; and Jimmy Armandariz, 22.
"The mother is still ... grieving," Sgt. Ramirez said of the Hidalgo brothers' mother, identified as Rosie Ramos. "We're going to wait to talk to her later to get more information from her."
The Texas Rangers and the FBI assisted Edinburg police in their investigation. The Brownsville Police Department helped Thursday in arresting Mr. Bocanegra, who was already wanted in Hidalgo County for violating the terms of his probation. It was not known Friday why Mr. Bocanegra was on probation.
Brownsville Police Cmdr. Abraham Delgado said Mr. Bocanegra was found with two female relatives Thursday morning and did not resist arrest.
"He [Mr. Bocanegra] was inside the house. He was probably napping, probably resting or something," Cmdr. Delgado said. "I guess he was surprised."
Mr. Bocanegra's relatives were questioned by authorities and released.
Home invasions are not uncommon in the Texas-Mexico border region, authorities say. The crime often goes hand in hand with the drug trade along the Rio Grande. Presumed drug dealers are often targeted and occasionally killed.
"As I'm speaking to you right now, there's other cities that are having home invasions," Sgt. Ramirez said.
E-mail brodriguez@dallasnews.com
Man arrested in Valley massacre - two women also detained in Edinburg, Texas fake cops murder of 6
Victims ID'd in Valley home invasion killings (fake cops murder case, 6 killed in Edinburg, Texas)
Fake cops kill 6 men in home invasion in Edinburg, Texas
|
|
|
 |
FreeRepublic , LLC PO BOX 9771 FRESNO, CA 93794
|
|
|
|
Isn't this sort of like "this is my brother Daryl and my other brother Daryl"?
They are routine where these people came from, that's the way the drug cartels work and once you get involved with them, you pretty much can expect this.
Then President Fox will start throwing one of his tantrums. He's explicitly said we're no longer to execute these types because they're his citizens.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.