Thread: Two Illegals charged in Slaying of Detroit Couple

Friday, March 14, 2008

Two charged in slayings of Troy couple
Mike Martindale / The Detroit News

TROY -- Two Texas men, believed to be contract killers, were charged Friday with first-degree, premeditated murder of a Troy couple found slain in their home this past week.

Miguel Angel Servando, 40, of Katy, Texas, and Nelson Oswaldo Mendoza, 34, of Houston were arraigned on charges before Troy District Judge Michael Martone who ordered them held in the Oakland County Jail without bond pending a preliminary exam.

"This is a significant case, and because of the allegations and flight risk, they will be held without bond," said Martone.

Assistant prosecutor Ken Frazee said the pair -- both El Salvador nationals living in the U.S. illegally -- traveled here last Tuesday to kill two Oakland County residents: Aasha Chhabra, 56, and her husband, Brij Chhabra, 65. Both were found in second-floor bedrooms of their home on Delaware Drive, each with a single close-contact gunshot wound to the head, according to an autopsy by the Oakland County Medical Examiner's Office.

The suspects, who were advised of the charges through a Spanish-speaking interpreter, were arrested in Taylor by police on a traffic stop. Police found a map to the Chhabra's house, a semi-automatic handgun believed to be the murder weapon and blood-stained clothing in the vehicle.

Assistant prosecuting attorney Kelly Chard told Martone that Servando has a history of arrests for smuggling of aliens and also possession of 19 pounds of marijuana. Chard said Servando appeared before an immigration court last month and was ordered out of the United States.

"Why he is still here, I don't know," she told reporters.

You can reach Mike Martindale at (24 647-7226 or mmartindale@detnews.com.

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