Thread: Killers' relatives to be deported

http://washingtontimes.com/metro/200608 ... -6471r.htm

The Washington Times
www.washingtontimes.com

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Killers' relatives to be deported
By Keyonna Summers
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Published August 29, 2006

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Several relatives of two illegal aliens recently convicted of the 2004 murders of three children in a Northwest Baltimore apartment will be deported in October, authorities said yesterday.

Victor Espinoza Perez and his wife, Guadalupe Juarez Hernandez, plan to go back to Mexico by Oct. 1, said Jay Marks, an attorney for the couple. The couple's children, some of whom are U.S. citizens, will accompany them, he said.

Perez's son, Adan Canela, 19, and brother, Policarpio Espinoza Perez, 24, were convicted of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder in the May 27, 2004, deaths of Lucero Solis Quezada, 8, and her male cousin, Alexis Espejo Quezada, 10. The men also were convicted of second-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder in the death of Lucero's brother, Ricardo Solis Quezada Jr., 9.

Hernandez testified last month that she is Canela's stepmother. She said that she and her husband had come to the United States in 1999.

"Victor has a deportation order, and he will be complying with it October 1," Mr. Marks said. "Guadalupe has a voluntary departure order, which also expires on or about October 1."

Ernestine Fobbs, a spokeswoman for the Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said removal proceedings on the parents of the slain children are pending. The relatives were granted permission to stay in the United States so they could testify in the first trial, which took place last summer and ended in a hung jury, and the retrial that took place this summer.

The familial relationships were a point of confusion throughout much of the retrial.

Mr. Marks said he thinks that Victor Espinoza Perez is Canela's uncle, and that he is Policarpio Espinoza Perez's half brother. Hernandez is Canela's aunt, he said.

They are members of an extended family of illegal aliens from Tenenexpan, a small town in the Mexican state of Veracruz.

Ricardo Espinoza Perez and Mimi Quezada -- the parents of Lucero and Ricardo Jr. -- and Maria Andrea Espejo Quezada -- Alexis' mother -- have said they do not think Policarpio Espinoza Perez, the children's uncle, and Canela, their cousin, committed the murders.

They testified that Maria Andrea Espejo Quezada's ex-husband told the family they would "cry tears of blood" if she left him.

The parents found the children's bodies strangled, beaten and nearly decapitated, tangled in bed sheets shortly after they returned from work.

Police said the relatives mostly were uncooperative, possibly because they either were directly or indirectly involved.

Prosecutors tried to link Victor Espinoza Perez, a concrete construction worker, and Hernandez, who ran the family's lunch truck, to the murders through phone calls made to the suspects immediately before and after the crimes.

Mr. Marks accused officials of planting evidence, attempting to "silence" the relatives by deporting them and "browbeating" jurors into a guilty verdict.

He said it is possible for authorities to obtain an international warrant to extradite family members and charge them in the murders, if more details emerge. He also said it is not uncommon for U.S. authorities to "kidnap" potential witnesses from Latin American countries if government officials there refuse to turn them over.

Mr. Marks said a "terrible injustice" had been done, and that the relatives were deeply saddened by the verdict because "they thought in the United States they would get justice."

"There's no question in any of the family members' minds or hearts that the two men sitting in jail are innocent and there's a murderer walking around somewhere who is capable of the most heinous and atrocious act and who is capable of committing barbaric acts of savagery against the innocent," he said.

Attorneys for Canela and Policarpio Espinoza Perez said they would appeal.

The two men are being held at the Baltimore city jail until the Sept. 21 sentencing. They face life in prison.

The familial relationships were a point of confusion throughout much of the retrial.

Mr. Marks said he thinks that Victor Espinoza Perez is Canela's uncle, and that he is Policarpio Espinoza Perez's half brother. Hernandez is Canela's aunt, he said.

They are members of an extended family of illegal aliens from Tenenexpan, a small town in the Mexican state of Veracruz.

So is Tenenexpan translate to Arkansas? Send the rest of them packing. Glad to hear the kids are going too.

Dixie