http://www.elpasotimes.com/newupdated/ci_15996267

Feds silent on U.S. Consulate employee slaying suspect
By Alex Hinojosa and Aileen B. Flores / El Paso Times
Posted: 09/05/2010 12:00:00 AM MDT

Federal officials on Saturday continued their silence about the unexplained court appearance in San Antonio of a man suspected of ordering the assassination of a U.S. Consulate worker and her husband earlier this year in Juárez.

Jesus Ernesto Chávez Castillo, known as "El Camello," or the camel, who had been held in Mexico City, was taken before a federal judge in San Antonio on Friday surrounded by FBI agents for a closed-door hearing.

No explanation was offered about his hearing, whether he is facing any charges in the U.S. or why he was turned over by Mexican authorities.

Chávez, described as a top gang leader in Juárez, was arrested this summer and told authorities that he ordered the slaying of U.S. Consulate employee Lesley Enriquez Redelfs and her husband, Arthur Redelfs, of El Paso.

The couple and another man, Jorge Salcido Ceniceros, the husband of another consulate worker, were shot and killed in two separate attacks after they left a children's party in Juárez on March 13.

U.S. Marshal Robert Almonte of El Paso would not say where Chávez is being held, only that security measures are being taken.

"We are practicing every precautionary measure for the safety of the detainee and the public," Almonte said. "However, because it is a high-profile case, we are not disclosing the details of the security measures we are taking."

He did not elaborate on what he meant by a high-profile case.

Three federal agencies declined to comment on the details of the case or on why Chávez was handed over to U.S. authorities.

In addition to the consulate slayings, Chávez told Mexican authorities that he participated in the killing of 15 young people at a Juárez birthday party in January.

U.S. Border Patrol officials and FBI officials referred all questions to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Alisa Finelli, a Department of Justice spokeswoman, said no information about Chávez could be released at this time, and she declined to comment further.

Vincent Perez, spokesman, for U.S. Rep. Silvestre Reyes, D- Texas, offered a possible explanation for Chávez being in the U.S. He said that because two of those slain were U.S. citizens, Mexico would want to cooperate with the U.S. and extradite Chávez and have him tried in the United States.

Even Mexican officials could not explain how or when Mexican authorities turned Chávez over to the United States.

There are no official records that show that Chávez was extradited, said Viviana MacÃ*as, a spokeswoman for the Attorney's General Office in Mexico City.

"If he wasn't extradited, it's clear to me that he was a U.S. citizen or he appealed to a second citizenship," MacÃ*as said. "There are three possibilities É he was expelled, repatriated or invited to return to the United States."

Chávez, who has a lengthy criminal history in the U.S., was most recently convicted of illegal re-entry in 2003.

He was represented by El Paso lawyer Carlos Spector, who could not be reached for comment Saturday.

Chávez was arrested by Mexican authorities in July and taken to Mexico City after he was accused of planning the shooting deaths of the three victims connected to the consulate and of participating in the slayings of the young people in the Villas del Salvacar neighborhood in Juárez.