Ecuadoran says he is a suspect in slaying

By Peter Schworm and Miriam Valverde

Globe Staff | Globe Correspondent / February 22, 2011


The man wanted in connection with the slayings of a Brockton woman and her 2-year-old son told officials in Ecuador that he fled the United States with a fake passport because he was a murder suspect, authorities said yesterday.

Luis A. Guaman Cela, 40, an illegal immigrant, shared an apartment in Brockton with the victims, Maria Avelina Palaguachi-Cela, 25, and her son, Brian, and according to authorities was the last person to see them alive.

Their bludgeoned bodies were found in a trash bin behind their Brockton apartment Feb. 13. A few hours later, authorities say, Guaman flew from New York to his native Ecuador under an assumed name.

On Friday, Guaman was arrested in Ecuador after police received a tip from his estranged wife in the United States. When he was arrested, he told police he used the false passport because he was wanted for murder in Massachusetts, an agent of the judicial police in Ecuador said.

The agent, who requested anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the media, said Guaman appeared agitated when stopped by police.

“He was very nervous in the moment,’’ he said. “As if he knew the magnitude of what he had done.’’

Massachusetts authorities have not charged Guaman in connection with the Brockton slayings or named him as a suspect. The Brockton Enterprise reported some of the details about Guaman’s arrest in yesterday’s editions.

Officials in Ecuador have not questioned Guaman about the Brockton slayings because they have not received the necessary authorization from US officials, the agent said. According to Ecuador’s consul in Boston, Guaman is not cooperating with authorities.

A spokesman for the country’s embassy has said the government will cooperate with US authorities. Ecuador and the United States have an extradition treaty, but Ecuador’s constitution limits extradition of its citizens to other countries.

Guaman, who was working in Brockton as a roofer, had used several aliases and in the past three years had been accused several times of violent crimes.

In 2007, he allegedly punched a girlfriend, grabbed her by the throat, and threatened to kill her and her infant daughter. He is also wanted on felony warrants from Spring Valley, N.Y., on charges of kidnapping with malice and assault, and on a pending assault case in Brockton.

Both victims in the Brockton slaying died from blows to the head.

At a hearing Saturday, a judge ordered Guaman held for 30 days while authorities gather evidence. If he is found guilty of using a false passport he will face one to three years in prison, according to the police official in Ecuador.

Relatives of Palaguachi-Cela, a native of Ecuador who came to the United States several years ago,that Guaman was wanted in the United States and had probably entered the country under a false name.

Once in Ecuador, Guaman called his wife to wire him money and threatened to harm her family in Ecuador if she did not cooperate. He asked her to wire the money to a woman he had met online and was arrested outside a money wiring service.

Relatives of Palaguachi-Cela were with the police and helped identify him, the official said.

A funeral for the victims, as well as a third family member who died last week, will be held tomorrow at St. Patrick Church. Palaguachi-Cela’s nephew, Luis Gilberto Tenezaca Palaguachi, 25, of Brockton, died after falling off a New Bedford roof.

Calling hours will be held today from 3 to 8 p.m. at Russell & Pica Funeral Home in Brockton.

Peter Schworm can be reached at schworm@globe.com, Miriam Valverde at MValverde@globe.com

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