FOUR-TIME DEPORTED ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT MURDERED WIFE WITH HAMMER IN TEXAS(update)
EXCLUSIVE: FOUR-TIME DEPORTED ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT MURDERED WIFE WITH HAMMER IN TEXAS
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by BRANDON DARBY 3 Jul 2015 138
Breitbart Texas has exclusively confirmed that a man who confessed to murdering his wife with a hammer in Laredo, Texas is a four-time deported illegal immigrant who would not have been in the U.S. had he not been able to illegally cross back into the country multiple times from Mexico after his deportations. In addition, the Laredo Police Department continuously encountered the man in violent episodes with his wife, yet did not notify Border Patrol, according to federal agents who spoke with Breitbart Texas on the condition of anonymity.
Several federal agents who work under the umbrella of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) spoke with Breitbart Texas on the condition of anonymity and identified the man as an illegal alien who had been deported on four previous occasions but continued to enter the U.S. illegally.
The Laredo Police Department admitted that this was the third violent encounter they had with the illegal immigrant and his wife. According to the federal agents who spoke with Breitbart Texas, the Laredo police did not notify Border Patrol that they were encountering a violent illegal immigrant. One federal agent told Breitbart Texas, “If the Laredo PD had notified Border Patrol, this woman would still be alive today. She is dead because officers of the Laredo PD failed to notify Border Patrol. Whether or not to notify Border Patrol agents is at the discretion of the individual police officer responding to the call.
These officers chose not to call Border Patrol and a woman is dead now.”
The illegal immigrant is named Juan Francisco De Luna Vasquez. He is currently in police custody. The victim, Angelica Martinez, was married to Vasquez and was reportedly killed with a hammer. Local news station KGNS reported Laredo Police Officer Albert Escobedo as saying, “At the same time, officers discovered a written note apologizing to his mother for what he had done. Upon the arrest of the individual, he was taken to the police department. He was interviewed and he did confess to the crime.”
In April of this year, Laredo Police Department Spokesman Joe Baeza spoke with KGNS on the issue of his police department not reporting illegal immigrants involved in crimes to the Border Patrol. In that instance, Baeza stated, “It’s going to wedge a bigger divide between the citizenry that we serve. And the majority of the citizenry that we have here is obviously a hispanic population. But a lot of that population are people who are here illegally. But they need our help also.” KGNS reported Baeza’s words further, “Laredo police spokesperson Joe Baeza says that would run against their standing custom of leaving immigration matters to federal officers. He says it could have a chilling effect with issues of domestic issues like if someone needs to report a crime at home.”
However, in this instance, the Laredo Police Department’s effort to avoid a “chilling effect” on the reporting of domestic issues seems to have played a role in the death of a woman on U.S. soil whom they were tasked with protecting.
http://www.breitbart.com/big-governm...mmer-in-texas/
Man pleads guilty to bludgeoning his wife to death with a hammer
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Posted: Wednesday, July 13, 2016 12:12 pm | Updated: 12:33 pm, Wed Jul 13, 2016.
By Taryn Walters
LAREDO MORNING TIMES
A Laredo man who bludgeoned his wife to death in July 2015 has pleaded guilty to murder.
Juan Francisco de Luna-Vasquez pleaded guilty to the charge Monday evening just before his trial was set to begin in the 49th District Court before Judge Joe Lopez.
Opening statements in the sentencing phase of the trial began Tuesday.
Jurors were charged with determining if Angelica Martinez’s murder was premeditated or an act of passion by De Luna.
The proceedings were to determine whether De Luna would serve time on a first-or second-degree murder charge.
He faces up to 99 years or life in prison.
Opening statements and testimony focused largely on whether De Luna had a history of violence and under what circumstances the murder took place.
During his opening remarks, Assistant District Attorney Juan Flores outlined De Luna’s history of domestic violence, telling the jury that police had been dispatched to De Luna’s residence at least twice leading up to Martinez’s murder.
De Luna and Martinez, who had three children together, had been separated for a month before her death.
Flores told the jury that De Luna was increasingly concerned that Martinez was in a relationship with another man.
“He waited, thought, reflected and deliberated. His reaction was ‘I'll kill her,’” Flores said.
Tuesday’s proceedings also included testimony from two witnesses who said De Luna had admitted to them that he would kill Martinez if he found out she was in a relationship with another man.
De Luna’s attorney, Eduardo J. Peña, framed the murder as a crime of passion, saying that De Luna had been married for 10 years without there being any proof of assault, that the couple were in the midst of a reconciliation, but that his wife’s affairs with other men and her physical and verbal abuse of his client pushed De Luna over the edge.
Martinez’s death occurred during a heated argument over her relationship with another man, said Peña, and that Martinez showered De Luna with “degrading terms that would cause anyone to lose their temper.”
During the course of the argument, De Luna proceeded to strike Martinez in the head three times with a hammer, and “when he saw that nothing could be done to save her, (De Luna) took a belt and strangled her.”
Witness testimony focused on prior domestic violence and driving while intoxicated allegations as neighbors, friends and officers recounted details of De Luna’s prior history of violence.
LPD Officer Alejandro Aguilar said he recalled responding to an assault in progress that involved De Luna threatening to kill Martinez.
Rosa Maldonado, Martinez’s close friend, recalled an incident where De Luna and Martinez were arguing.
She said De Luna allegedly grabbed Martinez by the hair, slapped her and dragged her away.
Tuesday’s hearing ended with LPD’s lead investigator Michael Wu giving testimony regarding his findings during the course of the case.
Wu refuted the defense's claims that Martinez was first bludgeoned and then strangled.
“I believe an argument began in the bedroom.
"I believe some type of struggle took place. I believe a belt was used and sometime during the course of that struggle a hammer was used,” Wu said.
Evidence from the belt led him to believe that the strangulation took place before the hammer was used.
The trial continued with witness testimony at 9 a.m. today.
http://www.lmtonline.com/front-news/...2ccfbc613.html
Deported 4 times, Mexican man sent to prison for crossing the border and killing his
Deported 4 times, Mexican man sent to prison for crossing the border and killing his wife
BY THE TEXAS TRIBUNE FRIDAY, JULY 15TH 2016
by Julian Aguilar | The Texas Tribune
http://static-33.sinclairstoryline.c...?1468600844876
The punishment for Juan Francisco De Luna Vasquez, an undocumented immigrant from Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, ends a dark chapter for the family of Angie Martinez, who was a 27-year old mother of three when De Luna bludgeoned her with a hammer then strangled her with a belt. (Photo via the Texas Tribune)
A Webb County jury on Thursday sentenced a Mexican man who repeatedly returned to the United States after being deported to life in prison for the July 2015 murder of his U.S. citizen wife.
The punishment for Juan Francisco De Luna Vasquez, an undocumented immigrant from Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, ends a dark chapter for the family of Angie Martinez, who was a 27-year old mother of three when De Luna bludgeoned her with a hammer then strangled her with a belt.
“We got justice for my sister, that’s all we really wanted,” said sister Martha Martinez.
The case highlighted gaps in what Martinez’s family said is an immigration system unable to prevent a repeat offender from coming back into the United States after being deported four times.
“The system needs to change,” Martinez said. “Police and Border Patrol need to be more careful with people who have been deported. This could have been prevented. She would still be here.”
De Luna’s defense attorney sought a lesser sentence and tried to convince the jury the killing was not premeditated but rather a crime of passion. De Luna pleaded guilty to the murder charge earlier this week.
"In the charge of the court, the jury had to answer 'no' to a special issue of punishment which stated that the defendant did not act in the heat of passion arising from adequate cause," said Webb County District Attorney spokeswoman Yanira De Leon in a statement. "After two hours of deliberation, the jury assessed the punishment of life in prison."
Martha Martinez said she was asked to testify about her sister’s abusive relationship with De Luna and how the couple’s three children, ages 10, 9 and 4, have dealt with the loss of their mother.
A Texas Tribune investigation of De Luna’s alleged criminal past earlier this year revealed his interaction with local and federal law enforcement dated back to at least 2006.
De Luna was first arrested in January of that year on an assault charge that was later dismissed. He was deported to Mexico later that month.
In late June 2006, he was apprehended by the U.S. Border Patrol and charged with improper entry by an alien, federal court documents show. But days later he was back in Webb County police custody after being picked up and charged with evading arrest, resisting arrest and making terroristic threats. The charges were still pending when Angie Martinez was killed.
On July 3, 2006, a federal magistrate convicted De Luna of improper entry and ordered him deported and placed on unsupervised probation for three years. He paid a $10 fine but didn’t serve prison time.
In 2010, De Luna was arrested after a warrant was issued for failing to show up to court on his earlier charges, according to Webb County Jail records. But he was out on the streets soon after.
In the fall of 2013, De Luna was arrested and charged with DWI and striking an object on a highway. With his previous charges still pending, he was booked into Webb County Jail again. But he bonded out the same day after posting $2,500.
When the Tribune first reported about De Luna in February, Immigration and Customs Enforcement referred all inquiries about De Luna to the U.S. Border Patrol. But the agency’s Laredo Sector said there was no record their office ever came across De Luna. An agency official in Washington D.C. said it couldn’t release details about some deportees because of privacy laws.
After his July 2015 arrest for murder, ICE placed a federal detainer -- a request to have an inmate transferred to federal custody upon his or her release -- on De Luna.
The Texas Tribune is a nonpartisan, nonprofit media organization that informs Texans -- and engages with them – about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.
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