Thread: Family awaits resolution: Investigation ongoing in consulate

http://www.elpasotimes.com/ci_15282339

Family awaits resolution: Investigation ongoing in consulate-linked killings
By Diana Washington Valdez \ El Paso Times
Posted: 06/12/2010 12:00:00 AM MDT

EL PASO -- Relatives of the El Paso County jail officer and his wife who were shot dead March 13 in Juárez said they are hopeful the 3-month-old case will be solved soon.
Arthur H. Redelfs, a 10-year veteran of the Sheriff's Office, his wife, Lesley, and Jorge Alberto Salcido Ceniceros, a Juárez plant manager, were killed in separate attacks March 13 within 25 minutes of each other. Salcido's wife, Hilda Antillon Jimenez, who was driving her car behind her husband's SUV, witnessed his slaying. Salcido's two children, who were with him, were injured.Both couples had just left a children's party sponsored by the U.S. Consulate in Juárez. They were pursued by armed men in separate vehicles and shot to death. Lesley Enriquez Redelfs and Hilda Antillon Jimenez worked at the U.S. Consulate in Juárez.Redelfs was four months pregnant. Her daughter, Rebecca, 7 months old at the time of the shooting, was in the vehicle when her parents were killed. Rebecca was not injured.Reuben Redelfs, brother of the slain officer, made a statement on behalf of relatives. It said in part:
"We are aware that some but not all of the persons involved are in custody. ... We know this is a solvable crime, and we look forward to more news soon about additional arrests. This brazen attack on innocent victims, at the foot of the international bridge, will not go unanswered."
As for Rebecca, the family said she is a source of inspiration.
"Rebecca is doing great, and she's a wonderful treasure to our family. We find hope in watching her grow," Reuben Redelfs said.
This investigation has two fronts. The FBI is working the case from the U.S. side of the border, and Chihuahua state officials are investigating in Mexico.Mexican officials initially were divided over whether federal or state investigators should assume jurisdiction. They resolved that Chihuahua state would investigate the murders.Arturo Sandoval, spokesman for the Chihuahua state attorney general's office, said his agency's last break in the case came March 25 when Ricardo "Chino" Valles de la Rosa, an alleged former Barrio Azteca gang member from El Paso, said he had information about the slayings. Shortly after the crimes, Mexican officials said the Aztecas or Barrio Aztecas gang was responsible.Later, Mexican authorities said Valles alleged he had acted as a lookout for gang members who killed the Redelfses. He also alleged that gang members ordered a hit on Arthur Redelfs because he mistreated Barrio Aztecas at the El Paso County Jail and threatened to eliminate them.El Paso County Sheriff Richard Wiles said the claim was not true.In addition, relatives of Valles said he was tortured by Mexican authorities until he signed a statement with those allegations.Former El Paso DEA official Phil Jordan also disputed the claim about Valles. He said his sources in U.S. law enforcement told him Lesley Redelfs was the intended target because she had rejected a suspected criminal's request for a permit at the consulate.FBI Special Agent Andrea Simmons said she could not discuss an ongoing investigation.Barrio Aztecas is a U.S.-based gang with members in El Paso and Juárez who work for the Carrillo Fuentes drug cartel. The Aztecas gang in Juárez is a brother organization.President Barack Obama and Mexican President Felipe Calderón condemned the killings, as did U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
But the homicides, which made international news, have received less attention as the weeks rolled by.Not always clear is when and how U.S. and Mexican officials decide which cases they should investigate jointly, and which ones they will pursue separately.

Other high-profile cases on the border

• June 7: A Border Patrol agent on bicycle patrol near the Paso del Norte bridge shoots and kills a 15-year-old Mexican citizen who was on the Mexican side of the border. The Border Patrol said the agent was being pelted with rocks from people on the Mexican side. The United States and Mexico are conducting separate investigations.
• 2005:"Border Patrol Agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean were accused of shooting a Mexican drug smuggler who was fleeing. Both agents were convicted of civil-rights violations and discharging a firearm during the act of a crime, an offense that includes a mandatory 10-year sentence. Compean was sentenced to 12 years in prison and Ramos to 11 years. The FBI"did not investigate this case. Border Patrol investigated with help from Mexican officials and the U.S. attorney's office. President George W. Bush commuted their sentences before he left office.
• 2002: A gang in Mexico suspected of stealing merchandise from U.S. trains along the border attacked FBI Special Agents Sergio Barrio and Samantha Mikeska, who were investigating during an operation at the Anapra-Sunland Park, N.M., border. A third FBI"agent involved in the special operation shot his firearm in the air to disperse the gang members. He rescued the agents who were dragged across the border fence by the gang. The FBI"said the joint investigation resulted in U.S. indictments against 13 suspects from Mexico.

I guess the outrage only goes one way. An agent of the U.S. government is murdered in Mexico and NOTHING happens. No apology from the Mexican government. No response at all from Obama. NOTHING.

No footage of the screaming grieving family clutching the casket.

Originally Posted by Newmexican

No footage of the screaming grieving family clutching the casket.

because americans arent really desperate to see that kinda stuff on tv