Thread: Suspect in slaying extradited

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Suspect in slaying extradited
Dallas: Man accused in restaurateur's '05 killing returned from Mexico

12:00 AM CDT on Saturday, April 22, 2006
By JASON TRAHAN and HOLLY YAN / The Dallas Morning News


One of two men accused in the January 2005 kidnapping and killing of a prominent local restaurateur was extradited Friday from Mexico to Dallas.

Edgar "Richie" Acevedo, 25, arrived at the Dallas County Jail about 6:30 p.m. "I have nothing to say," he told reporters in Spanish.

Mr. Acevedo, a former waiter at a Sanchez family restaurant, and Jose Felix, a former Dallas teacher, face capital murder charges in the slaying of Oscar Sanchez. The Sanchez family operates the popular La Calle Doce and El Ranchito restaurants in Oak Cliff and Lakewood.

Mr. Sanchez was kidnapped the morning of Jan. 18 in what police believe was a staged fender-bender in his north Oak Cliff neighborhood. His body was found covered by construction debris in a field in southern Dallas about a week after he disappeared.

Five days after the kidnapping, Chicago police arrested Mr. Felix as he was about to board a plane to Guadalajara, Mexico, where Mr. Acevedo had already fled.

Mr. Felix is awaiting a Sept. 9 trial. His attorney has said his client was unwittingly swept into a scheme by Mr. Acevedo to make money and punish the Sanchez family.

Mexican authorities captured Mr. Acevedo on Oct. 14 in Nuevo Leon.

"Since that time, the FBI has been working diligently to secure his extradition to the United States," Dallas police Senior Cpl. Max Geron said in a written statement. "They were successful and today transported Mr. Acevedo to DFW International Airport where Dallas police homicide detectives met them and took custody of Mr. Acevedo."

Prosecutors have said they will not seek the death penalty, in keeping with Mexico's extradition policies.

Mr. Acevedo, who used multiple aliases, was known to some as a flamboyant waiter at El Ranchito who dressed as a woman and frequented gay bars in the evening.

Jesus Sanchez, who was helping manage the La Calle Doce location on Skillman Street on Friday night, said he was elated with the news that Mr. Acevedo was finally on U.S. soil.

"One of the detectives gave us a call that he finally was getting extradited," Mr. Sanchez said. "We are incredibly grateful that he's back and will face justice."

He said the family prefers that Mr. Acevedo get life without parole.

"To us, it's a much better punishment," he said. "The death penalty would be too easy."

He said Oscar Sanchez's widow, Theresa, "is still having a really hard time. The baby just turned 1, a beautiful little girl. She will never get to know what her father was like."

E-mail jtrahan@dallasnews.com

and hyan@dallasnews.com

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.c ... ST0784.DTL

Police scour riverbanks in search for kidnapped Dallas restaurateur
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Tuesday, January 25, 2005


(01-25) 17:52 PST DALLAS (AP) --

Police searching for a kidnapped Dallas restaurateur scoured a river and its banks Tuesday, a day after finding bloodstained clothes in woods based on information from a suspect who said the man was killed.

Fire-rescue teams using boats and cadaver dogs scoured shallow portions of the Trinity River and its banks as investigators searched for the body of Oscar J. Sanchez.

Police said they were told where to search for Sanchez's body by Jose Alberto Felix, a 28-year-old out-of-work teacher who was arrested over the weekend in Chicago as he tried to board a flight to Guadalajara, Mexico. Felix waived extradition and agreed to return to Texas, where he faces third-degree kidnapping charges.

Another suspect, Edgar Acevedo, 24, already had fled to Guadalajara from Chicago, authorities said. Dallas police and the FBI were expected to file a request that Mexican authorities help find Acevedo, who is a Mexican citizen.

Police said the search would resume Wednesday.

Officers on foot, horseback and in helicopters searched woods just south of the Trinity River for several hours Monday for Sanchez, who was kidnapped last week. They discovered a large cardboard box and a large plastic sheet with red stains on it, along with the bloody clothes.

Felix told investigators that Sanchez was killed shortly after being kidnapped, authorities said. Police who searched Felix's home reported signs of a bloody struggle and discovered shell casings.

Sanchez, 30, disappeared after his car was rammed from behind near two restaurants his family owns. Relatives said kidnappers demanded as much as $3 million but dropped that to $78,000 when the family said it couldn't raise more money. The kidnappers did not show up last week for a ransom rendezvous.

Acevedo, who had worked as a waiter at one of the family restaurants, fled to Guadalajara on Saturday. Police also said there could be a third, unknown person involved.

Sanchez lived in Dallas with his wife and their infant daughter. He was associate director of operations for the popular restaurants La Calle Doce and El Ranchito, owned by his family.




http://www.nbc5i.com/news/4177608/detail.html

Suspect In Sanchez Case Talks

POSTED: 4:11 pm CST February 8, 2005
UPDATED: 6:10 pm CST February 8, 2005

DALLAS -- Jose Felix remains jailed on accusations he and alleged accomplice Edgar Acevedo kidnapped and murdered Dallas restaurateur Oscar Sanchez. During an exclusive interview with KXTX-TV (Telemundo 39), NBC 5's sister station, Felix told his side of the story.

Kidnapping suspects Jose Felix, left, and Edgar Acevedo.

Felix (pictured far left with Acevedo) spoke Spanish during the interview, and an interpreter translated for NBC 5. During the interview, Felix and his attorney said Acevedo committed the crime because he wanted to use ransom money to pay for a sex-change operation.

Felix also said he was held hostage at gunpoint and tied up. He said Acevedo could have shot him at any time.

Earlier in the investigation, police said Sanchez likely was killed in Felix's home in Duncanville, Texas. Felix said he was bound and held by Acevedo in a separate room from where Sanchez was held.

According to Felix's interview, Acevedo worked with another accomplice, who Felix said he could not identify. The third accomplice, Felix said, wore a ski mask that covered all of his face but his eyes and nose.

Felix also said music was played at high volumes so he could not hear actions that took place in other sections of the house.

The interviewer asked if Felix might have a message for the surviving Sanchez family members. Felix said he prays for the family. He also said he prays that God would touch the consciences of the true killers, and that they would confront their actions.

Sanchez was kidnapped Jan. 18 from near his home in the Oak Cliff section of Dallas. Felix was arrested in Chicago Jan. 23 before his extradition to Dallas Jan. 26.

Felix was asked why he didn't inform police at that time. Felix said he was even more afraid then because Acevedo had threatened Felix's family in Mexico and demanded money in exchange for the family's safety.

Felix was apprehended at Midway Airport about one hour before he was to board a flight bound for Mexico, where Acevedo is believed to be hiding, possibly disguised as a woman.

"I think if they are going to find him, I bet you he'll be somewhere in Mexico City deep down undercover as a transvestite," John Read, Felix's attorney said. "I'll put my money on that one."

Police investigators said they doubt the story Felix told Telemundo 39. They said Felix likely is trying to avoid the death penalty by further implicating Acevedo and the third person.