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

[southcitymom]

I apologize if this has already been posted, but I don't think it has been.

Sheriff: Parents, kids killed for drugs, money or both

POSTED: 10:28 p.m. EDT, October 27, 2006

• Killings of family of four on Florida's Turnpike premeditated, sheriff says
• Four people in custody on drug charges
• Brother of victim allegedly involved in drug trafficking, sheriff says
• Bodies of the family, including boys aged 3 and 4, found earlier this month
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FORT PIERCE, Florida (CNN) -- Investigators believe the killings of a family of four along Florida's Turnpike this month were premeditated and carried out for "drugs, money or both," St. Lucie County Sheriff Ken Mascara said Friday.

Four people -- a woman and three men -- are in custody on federal drug charges unrelated to the deaths, Mascara said, and they and the missing brother of one of the victims "all do know each other."

"We do not feel it was a revenge killing," Mascara said at a Friday morning news conference. "We think it was related to either the theft of drugs and money or both." (Watch police explain their theory as to what motivated killings -- 1:57)


more at link:

http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/10/27/florida.killings/index.html

 

[HollywoodBound]

The Palm Beach Post is reporting that an IOU was found with Sanchez's name on it at the Escobedo house when it was searched. This may be what this whole thing was about.

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/treasu...news/epaper/2006/10/28/m1a_slbodies_1028.html

 

[Trino]

I think there are hard questions that need to be answered.

LE keeps mentioning the brother, Jose Manuel, who was sentenced to 10 years in prison on drug charges in 2003 but escaped 7 months ago, presumably to Mexico. Was Jose Luis working for him? Were drugs a family business?

In 1997, Jose Luis and his mother were co-defendants in a district court case that charged them with felony possession of cocaine. The charges against his mother were dropped within a few months because of insufficient evidence. Jose Luis got 6 years probation.

We've got Momma and two sons suspected or involved. And, we should believe the family was clean and had no idea why someone might have killed Jose Luis?

 

[Beyond Belief]

PORT ST. LUCIE — Two of the four people arrested in connection with the shooting deaths of a Greenacres family along Florida's Turnpike in Port St. Lucie have been identified as the suspected killers, WPTV NewsChannel 5 reported late Wednesday.

Citing "reliable sources," the television station identified the suspected gunmen as Ricardo Sanchez and Daniel Toya, both 23, of West Palm Beach.
The two men were arrested Oct. 27 in their home, where authorities said they also found significant amounts of cocaine and other drugs.
They are thought to be the triggermen in the killings of Jose Luis Escobedo, 28, his wife, Yessica, 25, and their sons Luis Damien, 4, and Luis Julian, 3. 13 on the side of the turnpike.



Officials said Jose Luis Escobedo was part of the drug operation and his family had been killed because of it.

The killings shocked even veteran law enforcement officers. Within 24 hours of the bodies being found, the Drug Enforcement Administration was involved, and within 36 hours they had identified the four people arrested.

The individuals knew the Escobedo family, St. Lucie County Sheriff Ken Mascara said.

The family were natives of Brownsville, Texas, who had lived in Greenacres for only a few months before their deaths. They were buried together in Brownsville on Oct. 23. If Sanchez and Troya are guilty of
http://www.tcpalm.com/tcp/local_news/article/0,2545,TCP_16736_5111757,00.html

 

[s_finch]

>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?

Very good points. I can't imagine endangering my children by involving myself in such activity. The old saying "There's no honor among theives" can be applied to drug dealers.

 

[Trino]

Maybe my anger at the killings, especially of the children, is misplaced, but I find the behavior of the parents - because they would involve their children in something like this - despicable. I hope the brother and any other family member(s) that knew about the drug dealing are feeling pretty bad about this, too. May God forgive them all.

As for the men who pulled the trigger, hell is not good enough for them. Prison, however, would be. In prison these guys would be harshly dealt with before someone finally put them out of their misery.

 

[reb]

again, as i said in the very beginning-- BORDER PROBLEM.

but of course, nothing will be done.

 

[Sherlockmom]

>again, as i said in the very beginning-- BORDER PROBLEM.

but of course, nothing will be done.<<


We agree on something reb!!! This must be a first I haven't read anything about whether or not these people were citizens or non-citizens but it seems that the drugs were coming from across the border. This is a huge problem and is relevant to this case I believe.

It is only one of the reasons that we need tighter border security. The drugs seem to be free flowing and these people are particularly violent and have no respect for life whatsoever. Very dangerous group. If they have no regard for their own children's lives what makes us think that they would have any mercy for ours?

 

[scandi]

I don't think they would have any mercy on our children Shnerlockmom.

I thought this comment at the end of BeyondBelief's link a few posts back, was quite poignent:

"WELL I HAVE WORKED IN FLA PRISON SYSTEM AND ALL I HAVE TO SAY . THEY WONT MAKE IT A YEAR .. I PROMISE. THEY CAN EVEN PUT THEM IN PROTECTIVE CUSTODY SOME OF THOSE INMATES FEEL LIKE ITS THIER DUTY TO TAKE CARE OF PEOPLE LIKE THEM. AND SEEM LIKE THIS IS A MEXICAN MOB THING.. SO I KNOW THE FAMILY OF THE VICTIMS IS GOING TO SEEK REVENGE.. THEY MAY NOT EVEN MAKE IT TO COURT.. CANT WAIT TO SEE THE DOCUMENTRY"


Scandi

 

[Beyond Belief]

http://www.tcpalm.com/tcp/local_news/article/0,2545,TCP_16736_5114934,00.html

Five people arrested during the investigation into the shooting deaths of a family along Florida's Turnpike in Port St. Lucie will have pretrial detention hearings at 10 a.m. today in federal court.
Two of them — Ricardo Sanchez and Daniel Troya, both 23, of West Palm Beach — have been identified as the suspected killers, according to WPTV NewsChannel 5.

 

[Gina_M]

Four "persons of interest" in the Escobedo family killings have been moved out of the St. Lucie County Jail while awaiting trial on federal drug charges.
...


The four have been named as "persons of interest" in the deaths of Jose Luis Escobedo, his wife and their two children, whose bodies were found along Florida's Turnpike on Oct. 13 in Port St. Lucie. No one has been charged in the killings, which authorities have said were related to the theft of drugs or money or both.

The four are being held on federal charges of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute crack cocaine, which carries a maximum of life in prison. Investigators said names of some of the defendants were found in drug ledgers in the Escobedo home and they were arrested on drug charges after a raid on their West Palm Beach home on Oct. 27.

http://www.tcpalm.com/tcp/local_news/article/0,,TCP_16736_5197334,00.html

 

[kawika]

Sorry to bump this with no new news, but as far as I can tell none of those folks have been charged with the murders yet. Is this correct? I understand that since they're being held without bail on narcotics-trafficking charges there's no rush to indict them for murder, and I'm not suggesting anything's amiss here, but doesn't this seem a little out of the ordinary? (It might not be. I know very little about the timetables, etc. of Law Enforcement, prosecutors, et al) Anyone heard anything for the last 5-6 weeks? This case seems to have completely fallen off the map...

 

[Alice253]

http://www1.tcpalm.com/tcp/local_news/article/0,2545,TCP_16736_5245753,00.html

This is the latest article I could find, date Dec. 30.

The four are tentatively set for trial in March 2007, but the U.S. Attorney's Office has said it might amend its indictment in the case. Regardless of whether homicide charges result, the drug trial could provide more clues on how the four were linked to the Escobedo family.

 

[kawika]

Thanks, Alice! I'd not seen that one. Appreciated.

 

[Beyond Belief]

http://www.tcpalm.com/tcp/local_news/article/0,2545,TCP_16736_5281709,00.html

FORT PIERCE — </B>It's been three months since a family of four was gunned down on the side of Florida's Turnpike in Port St. Lucie, and more than two months since investigators put those thought to be involved behind bars on federal drug charges.

 

[Beyond Belief]

WEST PALM BEACH -- The drug case against four "persons of interest" in the Escobedo family killings was moved to a May trial docket in federal court Friday.

Attorneys for Daniel Troya, 23, Daniel Varela, 26, Ricardo Sanchez, 23, and Liana Lopez, 18, were present for the status hearing, but the four defendants were not. An attorney for a fifth defendant, who was indicted in the drug case but not named a "person of interest' was also present.

http://www.tcpalm.com/tcp/police_and_legal_news/article/0,2820,TCP_24433_5372015,00.html

 

[Beyond Belief]

DNA testing on guns and drugs seized from the home of four "persons of interest" in the slaying of a family of four on the side of Florida's Turnpike is coming to a close, according to a lawyer for one of the defendants.
The news came exactly six months to the day after the bodies of the Escobedo family — a mother, father and two young boys — were discovered shot to death on the roadway in Port St. Lucie. There have been no charges filed in the deaths, but investigators named the persons of interest a few weeks after the killings and arrested them on federal drug charges.

http://www.tcpalm.com/tcp/local_news/article/0,2545,TCP_16736_5483697,00.html

 

[Shadow205]

UPDATED: 5:28 p.m. April 18, 2007

Two of the four people named in connection with the murders of a family alongside Florida's Turnpike in Port St. Lucie in October were labeled as gunmen, in a federal indictment made public today.
Ricardo Sanchez and and Daniel Troya, both 23, were charged with armed
According to the indictment, they armed themselves between Oct. 12 and 13. Sanchez called Jose Luis Escobedo between 7 p.m. on Oct. 12 and midnight on Oct. 13 from Port St. Lucie, then from Port Orange and again from Titusville, the indictment says.
Shortly before 2 a.m., Sanchez called Escobedo from Inidan River County, just before Troya drove a burgundy van onto Florida's Turnpike at the Fort Pierce toll plaza.
A minute later, the indictment says, Sanchez called Escobedo again.
They had him stop his black Jeep Cherokee alongside the road, then shot Escobedo and his family and stole their Jeep.
Sanchez and Troya then called each other repeatedly as they made their way back to Palm Beach County, the indictment says.
Both charges related to the murders carry possible death sentences.
carjacking resulting in death and using or carrying a gun in a violent crime.

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/local_news/epaper/2007/04/18/0418slfed.html

 

[reb]

i am still waiting to hear if all these people are legal citizens or not. OOPS, i forgot-- i'm not allowed to ask that, the PC gestapo will come arrest me and take me away.

 

[Shadow205]

FORT PIERCE — Jose Luis Escobedo and his brother, a fugitive living in Mexico, ran one of the biggest cocaine rings "not only in Florida, but the eastern United States."
Two men who shot and killed Escobedo, 28, his wife, Yessica, 25, and their sons, Luis Damien, 4, and Luis Julian, 3, last October on Florida's Turnpike were part of the organization and "killed their leader."
Sheriff Ken Mascara revealed these and other details about the slayings Thursday, a day after a new federal indictment in the case was made public.
Ricardo Sanchez and Daniel Troya, both 23, fired more than 20, but less than 50, rounds into the Escobedo family, shooting all of them at close range in various parts of the body.

more at the link http://www.tcpalm.com/tcp/local_news/article/0,2545,TCP_16736_5494017,00.html