Police arrest 4 in Alabama murders www.privateofficer.com
Posted by privateofficernews on August 26, 2008
Police arrest 4 in Alabama murder cases www.privateofficer.com
Four men were charged with capital murder Monday in connection with the slayings of five men found dead in a north Shelby County apartment nearly a week ago.
Each faces two counts of capital murder – murder for consideration and murder of two or more persons. All are in the Shelby County Jail under no bond.
Two persons of interest in the case are being sought, and the investigation remains open, the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release issued Monday night
Charged are Alejandros Castaneda, 31, of Birmingham; Juan Fransisco Castaneda, 25, of Birmingham; Jaime Duenas Rodriguez, 22, of San Antonio; and Christopher Scott Jones, 40, of Birmingham.
Three of the men have been identified as Armando Lopez, 24; Ezequiel Rebollar-Perrban, 23; and Jaime Echeverria, 30. Shelby County Coroner Diana Hawkins said Monday the other two men have been tentatively identified and her office is trying to reach their relatives.
The Sheriff’s Office announced the arrests after executing four search warrants in the Center Point area Monday, with the assistance of other local, state and federal investigators. The warrants were executed at the following locations:
A residence in the 1800 block of Centerbrook Lane.
A residence in the 100 block of Foxhill Court NW.
The five men found slain last week in a north Shelby County townhouse were beaten and shocked in a brutal murder for hire related to drugs, authorities said today.
The men were discovered on Wednesday in the Cahaba Lakes Apartments off U.S. 280, but investigators believe they were beaten, tortured with electric shocks and then their throats were cut on Sunday. The killings were connected to a drug organization that transports cocaine, methamphetamine and marijuana, Shelby County Sheriff Chris Curry said.
Curry said he was not certain how long the suspects had been in the Birmingham area. Three are believed to be from Mexico and are in the country illegally, he said. Curry did not say how much the men were allegedly paid to do the killings, but he said the killings may have been in retaliation for embezzling $400,000 to $450,000 from the drug organizationShelby County Sheriff Chris Curry and District Attorney Robby Owens for the first time revealed publicly details on what they believed happened in the biggest homicide case in recent history in the county.
The Sheriff’s Department said that, with the help of others, it was able to identify suspects and a motive for the slayings. Capt. Ken Burchfield declined to discuss that motive, saying the Sheriff’s Department has a news conference scheduled for 9 this morning in Columbiana.
Burchfield confirmed that shortly before 7 a.m. Monday, a Shelby County deputy asked for assistance from the Jefferson County sheriff’s office in looking for a person of interest in connection with the homicides. The report said the man would be driving a black Dodge Durango truck. Authorities provided no further information on that search.
Meanwhile, one of the men found dead was facing a drug-trafficking charge in Jefferson County, court records show.
Armando Lopez, listed in court records as a transient, was charged on June 1 in Birmingham and released June 24 from the Jefferson County Jail on $100,000 bond. His bond initially was set at $1 million. Tim Arnold, who represented Lopez in the Jefferson County drug case, declined comment, citing the ongoing investigation.
Lt. Henry Irby, spokesman for the Birmingham Police Department, said he didn’t know if the Jefferson County drug charges were related to the Shelby County slayings and declined to talk about the Shelby County case.
According to an affidavit/warrant sought by Birmingham police on May 30, Lopez “did knowingly sell, manufacture, deliver or bring into this state, or was knowingly under constructive possession of 28 grams or more, but less than 500 grams of cocaine or of a mixture containing cocaine.”
The Jefferson County district attorney’s office had filed a civil suit seeking to seize a 1989 Cadillac and $1,201 Lopez had in his possession when he was taken into custody by Birmingham police on May 29. Prosecutors say the money was drug money. That case is still pending.
.Court records also show that Lopez pleaded guilty in Marshall County on May 15 to speeding, having no insurance and driving without a license.
The news release also stated that Sheriff Chris Curry wants the “residents of Shelby County to know he is confident that the suspects in custody are responsible for this crime and that it was not a random act.”
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