It took 9 years to bring Castillo-Alvarez to trial--he fled to Mexico.

Judge finds Castillo-Alvarez guilty, guilty, guilty
2:25 PM

Guilty. Guilty. And guilty.

Those were Judge Don E. Courtney's three verdicts announced today in the September bench trial of Humberto Castillo-Alvarez, 32, of Mexico.

The verdicts came on three charges -- second dergree murder, second degree kidnapping and conspiracy to commit a forcable felony -- all related to the 1997 slaying of Gregory "Sky" Erickson, 15, of Estherville, Iowa. His body was found in an abandoned farmhouse in Jackson County, Minn., just north of the Iowa border. He had been beaten and shot in the head execution style.

The trial took place over 2 1/2 days in September, with the direction that prosecutor Charles Thoman and defense attorney Michael Williams would make their closing arguments in writing.

Using information from witnesses in the previous trials, Thoman alleged that Castillo-Alvarez was the "head of a conspiracy operating out of Estherville (Iowa) to distribute illegal drugs for profit, principally marijuana and cocaine."

The defendant was extradited to Iowa from Houston in 2006 after being returned to the United States from Mexico. He had been charged two years earlier in connection with Erickson's death.

Sentencing for Castillo-Alvarez is set for March 4.

Castillo-Alvarez could serve the next 85 years in prison unless Courtney orders that the sentences run concurrently.

Read the complete story in Saturday's Sioux City Journal.

http://www.siouxcityjournal.com/article ... 700542.txt

It takes a long time to bring the past up to the present.
Franklin D. Roosevelt