The gang members who murdered a U.S. consulate employee, her husband and another employee’s husband in March 2010 in Juarez, Mexico, were sentenced life in prison Monday, according to a Justice Department (DOJ) press release.
Consulate worker Leslie Enriquez, her husband Arthur Redelfs and Jorge Salcido Ceniceros were shot and killed by transnational Barrio Azteca criminal organization members Jose Guadalupe Diaz Diaz and Martin Artin Perez Marrufo out of mistaken belief that they were rival gang members, after the three left a child’s birthday party, the release said. Diaz and Marrufo were convicted in February of conspiracy to commit racketeering, narcotics trafficking, narcotics importation, money laundering and murder in a foreign country and three counts each of murder in aid of racketeering and murder resulting from firearm use and carrying during and in relation to drug trafficking.
“This prosecution demonstrates the Department’s commitment to combating violent transnational criminal organizations and holding accountable those who may harm Americans, whether at home or abroad,” Assistant U.S. Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite Jr. said. (RELATED: Los Angeles Carjacking Victim Dies After Being Dragged Two Miles By Murder Suspect, Police Say)
Juarez stands on the U.S.-Mexico border directly across from El Paso, Texas, housing a major port of entry. U.S. and Mexican law enforcement coordinated to extradite Diaz and Maruffo from Mexico in 2019 and 2020 respectively, the DOJ release said.
EL PASO, TEXAS – SEPTEMBER 23: The Monumento a la Mexicanidad is seen next to the U.S./Mexico border in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico on September 23, 2022 in El Paso, Texas. Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Diaz, Maruffo and 33 others were charged with various crimes in a single indictment, with every one being arrested, according to the release. One other indicted person has been convicted through trial, 28 have pleaded guilty, one committed suicide and the remaining three are awaiting extradition from Mexico.
Jaurez police discovered five dismembered bodies inside an abandoned vehicle on Oct. 11. El Paso Police Department told the Daily Caller News Foundation that such violence has “been an almost daily or weekly occurrence for the last 20+ years and the potential for some spill over exists.”
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