http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/journalgaz ... 049204.htm

Posted on Wed, Mar. 08, 2006

Man extradited from Mexico pleads guilty in 2002 slaying
Agreement recommends 20-year sentence for voluntary manslaughter
By Sara Eaton
The Journal Gazette

A 27-year-old man extradited to Fort Wayne from Mexico to face a murder charge pleaded guilty Wednesday to voluntary manslaughter instead.

Guadalupe Martinez Padilla testified that he fought with Mario Calderon March 3, 2002, and eventually shot him after being punched several times.

He did not testify about what spurred the fight, but court records said Padilla fired a gun twice into the air upon arriving at 3404 S. Lafayette St. shortly after 2:30 a.m. The pair fought and others separated them, but they began fighting again a few minutes later, which led to the shooting. Everyone left the duplex at the corner of Lafayette and Weibke streets without calling police.

Calderon, 24, died of gunshot wounds to the chest. His death was ruled a homicide.

Calderon’s girlfriend found his body in the kitchen when she arrived later that day and called police.

Padilla testified he shot Calderon in a sudden heat – an element of the voluntary manslaughter charge differing from what must be proven by prosecutors with a murder charge. Murder requires prosecutors to prove intent.

A plea agreement recommends Padilla receive a 20-year prison sentence.

A woman who would only identify herself as Calderon’s girlfriend said she didn’t approve of the plea agreement and didn’t think it was fair. His family did not attend the hearing because they were not aware of it, but she planned to tell them, she said.

Prosecutors filed the murder charge against Padilla a few days after finding Calderon’s body, but he wasn’t arrested on the charge until February 2005 when officials discovered he had been living on his family’s farm in Mexico.

Mexican police held Padilla as Allen County prosecutors worked with the Mexican Consulate to determine whether he would be extradited to Fort Wayne. The request was granted and Padilla was booked into the Allen County Jail in early September.

His guilty plea comes a little more than a week before he was to begin a four-day jury trial.

Padilla wore an orange jail jumpsuit and had his hands and feet shackled. He will return to court April 10 to be sentenced.

POSTED: 2:55 P.M. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 8, 2006