GUILTY FL - Bodies of couple, 2 sons found along turnpike, Port St Lucie, 13 Oct 2006

[scandi]

HollywoodBound, did you listen to the news conference? It seems there was more said that isn't in this article. The first thing they mentioned was his brother and how he was involved in a big drug distribution operation. I was just waking up so didn't really hear the rest of it very well, but they had big photos of the 4 they arrested and a pic of this van. I didn't hear that theft was the main reason for the killings.

I'm wondering if these 4 arrested and the 5th man they are looking for work with Jose's brother or are with a competing drug operation, and our family was carrying a drug shipment with them in the car, which is why they were robbed. What do you think?

Scandi

 

[HollywoodBound]

Yes, I watched the interview. They didn't say whether they knew specifically if a lot of drugs were in the car on it's way back from Texas. Mascara said theft is believed to be the motivation for the killing of this family. He added that at first the crime didn't appear to be just robbery but after investigating that is what they now believe.

 

[wannabesleuthkk]

Just caught this on breaking news ticker...
Don't have any other details but this article just posted on web.
Could be case solved!

http://www.comcast.net/news/index.jsp?cat=GENERAL&fn=/2006/10/27/508221.html&cvqh=itn_flakillings

 

[IdahoMom]

Well, all I can say is I feel very, very sorry for the 2 sweet, innocent little boys who had to die because of all of this. This makes me sick to my stomach.

 

[scandi]

Me too IdahoMom. It is so hard to belive that for theft they would kill the two little toddlers.

See, HolywoodMom, I didn't hear they were on their way back from Texas, and were just driving down from Orlando back home. If that is the case and you put 2 + 2 together, the father must have had something with him worth stealing, right? And if he got it in Texas and made a connection with his brother, who the officer on TV talked about right away, someone must have been following them, and made their move at the right spot in the road to grab the drugs, killed them all and took off with no one seeing the. Someone drove the families car and parked it in a desolate spot. And these were locals who did this I guess. Wonder how they knew where the family was on the freeway?



SCandi

 

[scandi]

Thanks Wannabe,

That article had a lot of info in it we hadn't heard yet. We have another thread here on the killings, but I'm glad you started this thread as we have a whole new aspect to the case now with what we learned today.

Since they say here they believe the one who pulled the trigger is already in custody, this van they are looking for could be the vehicle the 5 were in when they stopped the family and robbed and killed them. This 5th guy must be the driver. I bet there is beaucoup evidence in that van

They just gave more news on a TV update. The 5th guy is not armed or dangerous they say - probably just the kid who drove his van for them. And they said they had ID'd the 4 people now arrested within 36 hours of the crime. It wasn't until the DEA produced a search warrant that they could arrest these people. I bet they found the gun, and it was a match to the bullets found at the scene. And I didn't know the brother was last seen in Matamouras Mexico.

I guess this is why the family could afford that expensive rent for the house with no regular employment. Pretty sad, isn't it, as he put his whole family in jeopardy by having whatever it was - drugs or cash - in the car with them there. Maybe he thought he would be less suspicious if he had his family with him.

Scandi

 

[wannabesleuthkk]

The first link was 'hot off the press' and missin much detail.
Here's an update.

http://www.comcast.net/news/nationa...=/2006/10/27/508229.html&cvqh=itn_flakillings

kk

 

[reb]

it does seem like now they could have moved to florida because the drug-dealing biz was more lucrative there. and i'm sure his wife was well aware of his activities,, how could she not be?? most women turn a blind eye to what their husbands do, as long as they're bringing home lots of bacon.

 

[Boyz_Mum]

Me too IdahoMom. It is so hard to belive that for theft they would kill the two little toddlers.

See, HolywoodMom, I didn't hear they were on their way back from Texas, and were just driving down from Orlando back home. If that is the case and you put 2 + 2 together, the father must have had something with him worth stealing, right? And if he got it in Texas and made a connection with his brother, who the officer on TV talked about right away, someone must have been following them, and made their move at the right spot in the road to grab the drugs, killed them all and took off with no one seeing the. Someone drove the families car and parked it in a desolate spot. And these were locals who did this I guess. Wonder how they knew where the family was on the freeway?
SCandi

As per the freeway, that is where I wonder if the brother set the family up? It sounds horrible but if drugs or money were being transported, it seems that someone closer to the family would be able to provide details like a route of travel? Sorry, I am thinking out loud here!

 

[reb]

i am thinking that they set up a spot in an out of the way place to do a drug/money exchange.. and maybe the dealer didn't know he was going to bring his wife & kids. (and why did he? were they on the way home from somewhere else?) or,, the guy followed them.. and pulled him over with fake police lights. but still, there had to be a reason they ended up in the middle of nowhere... which is why i'm leaning towards the first scenario. but there had to have been 2 guys, so each could drive one vehicle away. (unless, he was a passenger in the car the whole time- but this doesn't seem likely now).

 

[scandi]

Thanks Wannabe, I can't find this thread on the forum so came to look for it under your name. I'm going to post a link to this thread on the other one so they can read these articles too!

:blowkiss: Scandi

 

[scandi]

Here is a linki to the other thread here on the subject of the news in this case:

http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1218575#post1218575

There is a great article Wannabe has posted which gives us more info than we had, an it says that LE believe they were pulled off the hwy, shot on the ground outside the car and then their car driven to where it was dropped off. It wasn't worded too well, but that's what itsays. LOL


Scandi

ETA: So the idea of pulling them over with fake police lights sounds like a good idea Reb. I think these people were from a competitive gang and wanted to hijack the drugs that maybe Jose and his wife had brought back from Texas. If so, I bet the brother in Mexico is counting his losses - all the income from those drugs plus losing his brother. They could have received money from the brother as well for expenses, which is why the police aren't eliminating the idea of cash being taken either. And those poor unfortunate children. It just breaks my heart.

 

[cheko1]

I go with your first scenario reb.......

 

[Sherlockmom]

>it does seem like now they could have moved to florida because the drug-dealing biz was more lucrative there. and i'm sure his wife was well aware of his activities,, how could she not be?? most women turn a blind eye to what their husbands do, as long as they're bringing home lots of bacon.<


I think you are right reb. I was hoping that this wasn't the case but it seems that they were both up to their eyeballs in this. They both share responsibility in the murder of those two children. Disgusting people. I wonder if while she was shielding her own two children if she gave a thought to other people's children that were harmed by their greed? Probably not. If you don't care enough about your own kids not to put them in harm's way why would we assume they would give a thought to someone elses?

 

[Trino]

I cannot think of punishment enough for those who committed this crime, but the adult victims, Jose Luis and Yessica, if all indications are true, were not innocents. In fact, according to child welfare standards, they were not even good parents. If authorities had suspected the kids lived in a dealer's house, they would have removed them from the home. With drugs in the house and an assault rifle in the closet, what were these "parents" thinking?

It looks like Yessica, who must have known what was going on, and Jose Luis both had everyone snowed, including family members, relatives, and friends. Such a tragedy to the innocent children, brought on by their own parent's lifestyle.

"Oh, what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive."

And, the neighbors of Naujalis who waved him off so police wouldn't get him, knowing he may have been involved in the murders of two children? LE should find some trumped up charge and arrest them all. It sounds like they aren't exactly outstanding citizens by any means.

 

[scandi]

I had a friend once who I cared for once in awhile as he was dying of AIDS. He was the neatest guy, but told me stories of the horror down in Columbia and everywhere that cocaine is harvested and processed.

Any little thing and pop, you're dead. Even children. He said it was so bad that when he learned about this from his friends who had been to Columbia, he stopped using one day and never did it again. He said he had all of those children in his mind who were sacrificed for the love and control of Cocaine and the riches and power that went with it.

I don't think this murderer who pulled the trigger on these 2 toddlers gave a second thought when he put the gun to their heads.


Scandi

 

[reb]

these are the kinds of thing i think of when i see americans doing drugs. it's a selfish addiction (well, is there any other kind?) and people have no concept (nor do they care) of all the lives they are destroying and all the negative things they are causing by supporting the drug business. so many towns & villages that are so dependent on the drug trade now... and so many people hurt during the transport... all so the addict or the recreational drug user can have their precious high, instead of doing something more useful with their lives.

 

[HollywoodBound]

I'm sorry, my post was not suppose to say Texas. It was LE that was returning from TX. I think it was Orlando they said but now I would need to hear it again before I post with certainty. I'm really sorry everyone. I'll be more careful.

 

[Trino]

Orlando makes more sense. I don't recall the extended family saying they had been back to TX since they moved.

I just found this new posted info from CBS.

"There also was a photograph of Escobedo with one of the suspects, Danny Varela, 26, according to court papers..."

"A fifth man, Juan Gutierrez, was arrested and charged in the drug case but is not named as a person of interest in the slayings. He told authorities he and Varela were at the Escobedos' home before the killings and helped destroy drug packaging materials, according to court papers.

Investigators believe the family's Jeep was pulled to the side of the highway and that someone inside the vehicle shot the family and drove away."

If the Escobedo family was returning from Orlando (or anywhere else), why were Gutierrez and Varela at the Escobedo's home destroying this stuff before the killings? Does that mean that Varela can be eliminated as the killer?

 

[kawika]

Well, thank goodness they've found those responsible. Varela, Sanchez and Troya all have (surprise!) lengthy rap sheets. Bad, bad people the Escobedo were involved with. What a tragedy for those children to be brought up in such a household. In any case, as one might imagine, this morning's Palm Beach Post has extensive coverage

STORY



I did want to say, citing my own post earlier in this thread:

http://websleuths.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1218060&postcount=191

that the person who appeared in that newspaper story quote, a Michael Naujalis, was uninvolved according the Post story from today linked above:

Investigators interviewed 24-year-old Michael Naujalis of Lake Worth, whose red Dodge conversion van might have been involved in the murders. Investigators recovered the van Thursday night and cleared Naujalis Friday evening. Naujalis had sold the van to Varela in August, but Varela never completed the transfer of title.