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MS-13 member in jail, accused of cutting off couple's heads

10:34 PM CST on Monday, January 29, 2007

By Jeff McShan / 11 News

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An MS-13 gang member accused of cutting off the heads of his girlfriend’s parents is in custody in Houston.

In late September, FBI agents and Houston police were involved in a shootout with MS-13 gang members in a hotel parking lot on the city’s southeast side. Our cameras were there that night.

That night an FBI agent was wounded, but when it was all said and done, four gang members were apprehended and taken to jail.


KHOU-TV

Albin Zelaya
A fifth suspect, 26-year-old Albin Zelaya, somehow managed to get away.

The dangerous man fled Houston, crossed the border and eventually ended up in Honduras, where he was spotted just outside the tiny town of San Pedro Sula.

11 News discovered this because on a Honduran newspaper website called Tiempo, we found an article where local authorities claim Zeleya decapitated his former in-laws. They claim he beheaded them with an ax while their 10-year-old son watched.

The article said the gruesome murder happened on Christmas day.

Zeleya reportedly told grieving relatives as he fled the scene that he killed the couple because their daughter broke up with him.

Apparently, no one knew Zeleya’s whereabouts until this past weekend.

HPD sources told 11 News the department’s gang squad found him here and was able to arrest him over the weekend.

The department was assisted by HPD SWAT and, we were told, the FBI.

Zelaya, believed to be involved in numerous crimes here, is currently charged with burglary and is being held without bond in the Harris County jail.

Earlier Monday, he made an appearance in federal court because of his illegal re-entry into the U.S.

HPD’s Gang Division, working with the FBI, ATF and ICE, has arrested numerous MS-13 gang members since it was reorganized under the direction of Capt. Michael Graham.

11 News cameras were there just after two MS-13 gang members were shot and killed by FBI agents in November of 2005. There were two others wounded.

The war on gangs continues.


Tuesday, HPD will say more about the arrest Zeleya and five other alleged MS-13 members.