AZMEX UPDATE 30 AUG 2013
Note: Your correspondent has been in the area on occasion. The last time, once past the BP checkpoint, the only "authorities" seen or met were from Sinaloa. Latest info is that the incident was in the northern area of the Chiricahuas, not the Rucker Canyon area.
Park believes robbery/assault isolated incident at Chiricahua National Monument
Posted: Aug 29, 2013 6:56 PM by Erika Flores
Updated: Aug 29, 2013 7:28 PM
WILLCOX - An attack on a national park service employee at the Chiricahua National Monument in Southeast Arizona landed the woman in a hospital.
The 60-year-old woman was found unconscious Wednesday afternoon inside a picnic area restroom.
She is at the University of Arizona Medical Center in critical but stable condition.
Karen Gonzales is a maintenance employee and park guide at the park.
Michelle Fidler with Coronado National Park Service tells News 4 Tucson that a park researcher found her during the middle of the day with a head injury.
"We weren't sure at the time whether she had fallen. We are investigating it as an Assault and robbery," said Fidler. "After she was airlifted out, we discovered that her vehicle was no longer in the park."
The Cochise County Sheriff's office later tracked down her truck in Douglas.
The FBI is assisting with the investigation.
James Reeves said he was at his mom's house when heard the helicopter airlift Gonzales to UAMC. "Her house is probably two, three miles from the visitor center," he said.
He said he's concerned whoever did this to Gonzales could be back and wander onto his mom's property. "There's times when she's by herself, and it worries me," said Reeves.
Fidler said she believes this is an isolated incident.
"Safety is our number one priority, and we continue to have our park service and border patrol agents patrolling in this area," said Fidler. "Our thoughts and prayers are with her and her family."
If you know anything about this case, you're urged to contact the Cochise County Sheriff's office.
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Convicted felon nabbed by law enforcement
August 29, 2013 10:34 PM
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FROM STAFF REPORTS
A Mexican citizen convicted of manslaughter was arrested by Yuma County Sheriff's Office deputies and Yuma Sector Border Patrol agents Tuesday near Gadsden.
The man's name has not been released to the public because such information could possibly interfere with the prosecution in this case, Border Patrol officials stated.
The man was convicted of manslaughter in Phoenix in May 2003 and sentenced to 11 years in prison. He was deported to Mexico in May 2013 after being released from prison, but recently re-entered the United States illegally. His case will be turned over to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
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FBI investigating National Park assault near Willcox
By Cory Marshall
CREATED 6:27 AM (?)
TUCSON (KGUN9-TV) - Cochise County Sheriff's deputies say someone assaulted a National Park worker on park grounds, Wednesday afternoon.
According to deputies, someone attacked 61-year-old Karen Weston Gonzales inside Chiricahua National Monument, near Willcox.
A park researcher later found her "unconscious in a picnic area restroom," according to reports. Authorities say the attacker took off with her government truck. Officials later located the vehicle in Douglas.
Today, KGUN 9 On Your Side sat down with members of Gonzales' family in an exclusive interview.
"My number one concern is my mom. I want to make sure she's Ok. I want her to recover. I want her to wake up and tell me the story and then we'll have the whole, real story," her son, Joseph Gonzales said.
Karen's son, Joseph, also works on the park grounds. At the time of the attack, he says, he was just two miles away.
He says he sat with his mother in the ambulance before she was airlifted to University of Arizona Medical Center in Tucson. "Yeah,at that point she was still responsive to me. I put my hand on her leg [and] she shook her head," Joseph said.
As a whole, the Gonzales family says they are having trouble with the timeline.
Joseph says his fellow park employee first rushed to grab him around 1:30, Wednesday afternoon. However, according to a CCSO press release, deputies were not notified of the assault until 3:20 p.m., almost two hours later. "They said, 'we're working on it.' That's all they said. They didn't say they contacted anyone. They said 'we're working on it' and that was unacceptable to me," Joseph told 9OYS while outside UAMC.
According to deputies, the 61-year-old remains in critical, but stable condition. Her family says she is slowly waking up and slightly responsive.
No arrests have been made. Anyone with information is asked to call the CCSO.
END
Note: Pima county continues to crush drug crime.
3 hours ago • Arizona Daily Star
A man accused of participating in a drug-related killing was sentenced to four years in prison.
Pima County Superior Court Judge Scott Rash sentenced Julian Zepeda, 26, Thursday for his role in the 2011 shooting death of Javier Bejarano, 22.
Zepeda and two other men were accused of killing Bejarano in a drug-deal gone bad. Court documents said the men arranged to meet a buyer who wanted 4 pounds of marijuana, instead Bejarano showed up and attempted to steal the drugs.
Zepeda then shot and killed Bejarano in fight.
Zepeda pleaded guilty in June to negligent homicide and conspiracy to transport for sale more than 2 pounds of marijuana.
Following the prison term, Zepeda will serve seven years probation.
Pima County Superior Court Judge Scott Rash sentenced Julian Zepeda, 26, Thursday for his role in the 2011 shooting death of Javier Bejarano, 22.
Zepeda and two other men were accused of killing Bejarano in a drug-deal gone bad. Court documents said the men arranged to meet a buyer who wanted 4 pounds of marijuana, instead Bejarano showed up and attempted to steal the drugs.
Zepeda then shot and killed Bejarano in fight.
END
Mexico captures alleged Sinaloa cartel lieutenant
8 hours ago • Associated Press
MEXICO CITY — Mexican police have captured an alleged former Sinaloa drug cartel lieutenant accused of involvement in the killings of more than 350 people found in various mass graves in 2011, officials said Thursday.
Police in the northern state of Chihuahua detained Mario Nuñez, 39, also known as "M-10," on Wednesday in the border city of Ciudad Juarez, federal security spokesman Eduardo Sanchez said.
Nuñez, a former police officer, began working with the Juarez Cartel before joining the rival Sinaloa organization allegedly led by Mexico's most-wanted man, Joaquin Guzman.
The government partially blames Nuñez for a surge in violence that brought shootouts in broad daylight, ambushes of police and kidnappings to Juarez, which is across the border from El Paso.
U.S. court documents say Guzman, known as "El Chapo," hired Nuñez and gave him the job of snatching the smuggling corridors into the U.S. from the local Juarez Cartel by ordering gangs of hit men to carry out killings that included mutilations and decapitations.
The Juarez Cartel lost ground to the Sinaloa organization in a three-year battle that wound down in 2011.
But Nuñez's criminal career continued, officials say.
The Mexican government says Nuñez's power struggle with another drug chief in the spring of 2011 resulted in the slayings of 350 people, whose bodies were unearthed in 23 mass graves in the northern state of Durango.
"Much of the violence seen in the states of Chihuahua and Durango is partially because of the actions carried out by this man," Sanchez said.
Nuñez is wanted in the U.S. on drug-trafficking charges in a federal court in Texas. The Mexican government said he could face up to 40 years in prison in Mexico, and it was not immediately clear whether there was a U.S. extradition request for him.
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