SD SD - Sioux Falls, HispMale 30-50, UP17129, ties to MN & Mex, fake SS card, tatts & jewelry, Feb'95

  • #21
A 2014 SD Supreme Court decision in State v. Garza.
State v. Garza
Justia Opinion Summary
Defendant was convicted of first-degree arson and first-degree felony murder for intentionally setting fire to an occupied structure, resulting in the death of an unidentified victim in the fire. Defendant was sentenced to concurrent life sentences without parole for each conviction. Defendant filed a motion to correct an illegal sentence, claiming that the concurrent sentences violated the constitutional prohibition against double jeopardy. The circuit court denied Defendant’s motion. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the Legislature intended to authorize cumulative punishment for violations of felony murder and the underlying felony of arson, and therefore, the circuit court was authorized by the Legislature to impose concurrent sentences for both crimes.
 
  • #22
I profiled Carlos on my site. It doesn’t add any new info aside from a few minor details found on Ancestry. They might be useful for anyone with a knack for connecting two cases separated by many miles!

Carlos Manuel Borbon Buenos – REDRUMDOE

ETA: not entirely sure how the UID died.
Thanks for sharing the link. I enjoyed reading Carlos' profile. He must have had connections in SD. I mean people don't just disappear from PR then plop down in SD 5 years later. Someone he knows was at that party. They know these are Carlos' remains, imo. :rolleyes:
 
  • #23
Most of the articles refer to “the unidentified illegal Mexican immigrant” who people knew from the area. He gave different names and had false ID/SS cards. And someone supposedly remembered either giving him a ride there from Minnesota or him telling him that’s where he had recently been. There wasn’t much more info about him than we already know. ETA: It did say he was found, deceased from smoke inhalation, on a couch where he and others had been drinking heavily that night. His BAC was three times the legal limit to drive. That contributed to his death.

I was saddened to see that it didn’t seem like they cared much about figuring out who he was. When he was mentioned, it was no more than a sentence or two. :(
 
  • #24
Most of the articles refer to “the unidentified illegal Mexican immigrant” who people knew from the area. He gave different names and had false ID/SS cards. And someone supposedly remembered either giving him a ride there from Minnesota or him telling him that’s where he had recently been. There wasn’t much more info about him than we already know. ETA: It did say he was found, deceased from smoke inhalation, on a couch where he and others had been drinking heavily that night. His BAC was three times the legal limit to drive. That contributed to his death.

I was saddened to see that it didn’t seem like they cared much about figuring out who he was. When he was mentioned, it was no more than a sentence or two. :(
Are you able to take a photo of the articles?
 
  • #25
Are you able to take a photo of the articles?
Yeah, that’s how I normally do it but there’s a problem on my end I’m trying to figure out. Once I do, I’ll post them!
 
  • #26
Here's more info on the court case for Jose Garza a.k.a Mario Santiago:

FindLaw's Supreme Court of South Dakota case and opinions.

At approximately 9:00 a.m. on the morning of February 24, 1995, Jose Sanchez (Sanchez) hosted a party at his apartment located at 231 South Spring in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.   Throughout the morning and early afternoon hours, a large amount of alcohol was consumed by the occupants and guests.   Garza arrived at Sanchez' apartment around 4:00 p.m. and found the majority of the participants intoxicated.   Garza consumed alcohol with the other guests after his arrival.

[¶ 3] Later, Ansellmo Montinegro (Montinegro) and Garza had an altercation.   After Montinegro broke the strings of a guitar, Garza grabbed it and broke it further.   Another participant at the party attempted to stop Garza and a further altercation ensued.   Next, the evidence showed that Garza went to the stove, turned on the gas, lit all four burners, and threatened he could burn down the house.   Also, Garza was observed putting his lighter up to the fuse box in the apartment, but the fuse box door was closed by another person at the party to deter this act.

[¶ 4] At approximately 9:30 p.m., Garza left the party.   Garza was later identified as having purchased forty-five cents worth of gasoline at a nearby 7-11 store at 11:00 p.m.   Within twenty minutes of his purchase, the apartment building at 231 South Spring was on fire.   All of the occupants escaped the burning building, except for John Doe, who died of carboxyhemoglobin poisoning.1

More at link
 
  • #27
So..I've been having a nice conversation with Detective Mertes. He's told me some....very interesting stuff about the victim.
 
  • #28
I think Roberto and Carlos are the same person, but if this the case, there are a LOT of unanswered questions.
 
  • #29
Here is what I have found out so far from Detective Mertes (who by the way does want to identify him). Kinda like a timeline

  • Seattle 1987, the victim is arrested for disorderly conduct, he was drunk and he was carrying items indicating he had been at homeless shelters. He was deported back to Mexico.
  • He is arrested another time in Seattle during the 80s, not sure what happened, but I think he was arrested for disorderly conduct only.
  • Minneapolis 1991, arrested again, not deported, there's no way of knowing how he got into the USA, but it was probably easier to enter via Florida, seeing as how Carlos Borbon is Puerto Rican
  • January-February 1995, Carlos meets a group of undocumented migrants who are driving from Minneapolis to Sioux Falls to seek work as laborers. During this he provides multiple names and sleeps on the couch of the apartment he later died in.
 
  • #30
I feel that drinking may have been why Carlos was in a nursing home. According to a google search of where he lived, its a nursing home, maybe it was rehab before?
 
  • #31
26 Feb 1995, Page 1 - Argus-Leader at Newspapers.com

76781EF1-3F35-4F46-A6F2-3DA6563EA2B4.jpeg

27 Feb 1995, Page 25 - Argus-Leader at Newspapers.com

ACB8F926-B283-4289-ADD1-ACFA905595F6.jpeg

28 Feb 1995, Page 23 - Argus-Leader at Newspapers.com

78D096F1-AD65-4AA7-9AB0-3DF5050CF514.jpeg 4F707CB0-CE3F-4BA9-9921-281A2260D9A8.jpeg

5 Mar 1995, 17 - Rapid City Journal at Newspapers.com

25FB3A77-CAF3-4FA7-8141-47630DFA934E.jpeg

@Grungster
 
  • #32
I read that he was commonly known as Carlo and Bernardo...this has to be a match
 
  • #33
I read that he was commonly known as Carlo and Bernardo...this has to be a match
I’m beginning to wonder if it’s possible. The detective told you the victim was arrested in the US in 1987 and 1991, and nothing indicates Carlos was somewhere other than Puerto Rico during those years (depending on the exact date in ‘91). Plus, if he was deported back to Mexico after that arrest then I’d assume they determined he was in fact a Mexican citizen. Which we don’t know if Carlos was or not. That’s also interesting about the nursing home. I hadn’t noticed that before. Hopefully someone hears back about the possible match though, there are too many similarities for them to not at least take a look!
 
  • #34
Unfortunately, I think they had a photograph of the victim when he was alive, but that's been destroyed.
 
  • #35
I'm sure @MadMcGoo already knows this, because they did Ancestry research from what I know about Carlos. Carlos was declared dead on November 10, 1999.

Join Ancestry
 
  • #36
You may need a subscription to view that...I'm not sure.
 
  • #37
Why do you think it's Carlos?
Why would a US citizen hang around undocumented ranch hands? What would be the reason? Our UID was dressed exactly like a ranchhand...a vacquero...

Where did Carlos travel when he was in the States?

Where was he in a nursing home?

Victim has ties to Mexico......

Also Carlos was declared dead five years before this happened....
 
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  • #38
Most of the articles refer to “the unidentified illegal Mexican immigrant” who people knew from the area. He gave different names and had false ID/SS cards. And someone supposedly remembered either giving him a ride there from Minnesota or him telling him that’s where he had recently been. There wasn’t much more info about him than we already know. ETA: It did say he was found, deceased from smoke inhalation, on a couch where he and others had been drinking heavily that night. His BAC was three times the legal limit to drive. That contributed to his death.

I was saddened to see that it didn’t seem like they cared much about figuring out who he was. When he was mentioned, it was no more than a sentence or two. :(
Yes, undocumented migrant...ranch hand type...transient.......
 
  • #39
Why do you think it's Carlos?
Why would a US citizen hang around undocumented ranch hands? What would be the reason? Our UID was dressed exactly like a ranchhand...a vacquero...

Where did Carlos travel when he was in the States?

Where was he in a nursing home?

Victim has ties to Mexico......

Also Carlos was declared dead five years before this happened....
Carlos looks exactly like this man. He has gunshot scars, a mustache, etc. He wasn’t known to have tattoos, but information on Carlos is scares.

Why he was living an undocumented lifestyle….that I’m not sure about. T
 

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