Getting Away With Murder (Nogales)

CBS 5 i-Team ^ | Nov. 11, 2002 | Ismael Estrada, Morgan Loew, Patrick McCreery

[madfly]

Nogales, Nov. 11 -- You'd like to believe if someone commits a murder in Arizona, the long arm of the law will find them anywhere.  A News 5 investigation has discovered that this is not the case.  If a mexican citizen kills someone in Arizona, and makes it across the border, odds are, they will get away with murder.

Barbara Nunez says, "Her birthday just passed a couple of weeks ago. She would have been 17."

It's been one year since a bullet took the life of Tanee Natividad.  She was shot in the head and police believe her killer is still on the loose.

According to Arizona Governor elect, Janet Napolitano, the situation is troublesome.

It's troublesome to state leaders because police know exactly where this particular fugitive is.  They just can't arrest him.

This is the story of a 16-year old cheerleader whose killer is getting away with murder.  It's also about dozens of other suspected murderers from our state, who are escaping justice by hiding south of the border.

It's late on a friday night, and the 5-i Team is undercover in Mexico looking for a man named "Max."  We show his picture to people on the street.  Some say they recognize him.  "Max" is apparently a regular at the local bars.  He's also wanted for murder in Arizona.

According to Barbara Nunez, there's no dount who killed her daughter.  "It's pretty much him. It's not anyone else. They don't even have anyone else in mind."

Barbara Nunez would prefer if she never heard of Max LaMadrid.  Witnesses say he shot and killed her daughter while she was sitting in a drive-though waiting for her food.  Nunez says, "I mean there's days when I can't even get up. There's days when it hurts to breathe."

Barbara Nunez is not alone.

The 5-i Team found nearly 100-cases in just the last 5-years, where murder suspects fled to Mexico and are still on the loose.

Antonio Gonzalez says, "It's been four months and I haven't heard anything yet."

When Antonio Gonzalez' brother "Miguel" was murdered in broad daylight in June, it was a major valley news story.  But since then the only suspect in the case, Mario Cardenas-Rodriguez, is believed to have fled to Jalisco, Mexico.

Gonzalez says he doesn't feel authorities are treating the case with the importance it deserves.

Morgan Loew says "The idea of killers escaping to Mexico is nothing new. What is new, is that now it appears the Mexican government is helping them."

Janet Napolitano says, "It's an issue that has been very troublesome to us ever since the Mexian Supreme Court made it so difficult for us to extradite those who committed homicides in our state.. and I think have created an incentive for people to flee into Mexico as a safe harbor."

It took the Arizona Attorney General's office 14-years to bring back accused Phoenix cop killer Rudy Romero and he was a high-profile case.

For the other one hundred fugitives, prosecution in Mexico is about the only option.  But the Arizona Attorney General's office is currently using that tactic in only a half-dozen cases.  Remember,  we found 100.

Reporter says, "What do you say to the people who are waiting for these arrests to be made?"

Napolitano says, "I would say to these family members we're not dropping it. They just sometimes take a lot of time."

Back in Mexico.  It's one week after our last trip and we appear to be making headway in our search for accused killer Max LaMadrid.

A man tells us he's seen Max with some local gang members.

We tried to talk to them, but after a brief altercation - they walk away, and we're back to square one.

For the family members of the murder victims, the pain of waiting for an arrest is so intense, some think about going to Mexico themselves.

Gonzalez says, "We are a large family.  We are nine brothers and we were willing to hire a private investigator to go down there to hunt him down.  But I know if we find him, we kill him."

Of the 100-murder cases we looked at, we discovered at least 5 where police know the suspects' locations in Mexico.

Mexican police even arrested two of them in the past year, but both were let go, because Arizona prosecutors failed to take action.

In the Max LaMadrid case police believe he is living in a house in Nogales, Sonora.

Which is where the 5i-Team found him on our final trip.  We tracked him down inside a popular nightclub.  With a hidden camera we captured images of LaMadrid partying just two blocks south of the border.

Barbara Nunez says, "You know he's not even an hour away.. you know. And I don't get it."

The news is almost too much for Barbara Nunez to take.  It's also a shock to Arizona Attorney General Janet Napolitano, who is ultimately responsible for getting people like LaMadrid arrested.

Reporter says, "Is it the Mexican government's fault? I mean are they dragging their feet in some of these cases?"

Napolitano says, "We need to take this to the top of Mexican law enforcement and say we need to get this guy under arrest - even if we are not sure we can get him extradited."

But as of today, LaMadrid remains free along with the rest of the 100 murder suspects.

Nunez says, "Now that I know there are so many families out there. It's awful. It's just not right."

A small shrine now stands in front of the home where Tanee Natividad used to live.  She's the 16-year old cheerleader murder a year ago next week.  While it comforts her mother, she feels like the justice system is letting her down.

All content © Copyright 2001 - 2002, WorldNow and News 5. All Rights Reserved.

[madfly]

Email response from Morgan Loew on status of Max LaMadrid.

From the information I was able to obtain, the main subject of our story, Max LaMadrid, is a Mexican citizen who was in this country legally. But he is still protected by the Mexican Supreme Court ruling that says, if he is arrested in Mexico, he cannot be extradited unless prosecutors here drop his protential sentence to less than life in prison.

Note: There is a 6 1/2 minute video of this show at the link above.

[madfly]

ping

[madfly]

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[madfly]

ping

[Revelation 911]

this is infuriating - Ive been to Nogales, its a hell hole - we'd be doing the guy a favor by giving him life in prison in the States - why he cant be extradited escapes me

[FITZ]

This is a very good example why controlling the borders isn't a race issue, anyone along the border doesn't want them open especially if they know the level of crime there is now in Mexico. Mexico's government is pretty much doing nothing about the murderers of over 300 women in Ciudad Juarez and they're not doing anything to find over 500 missing women and girls. Who wants an open border with that?

[B4Ranch]

. Who wants an open border with that?

The globalists think it's just fine. The situation will be corrected when there are no more borders.

[Cyber Liberty]

Ping! Enlighten if you are able...

[madfly]

FYI

Anyone wanting ON or OFF my Border ping list, please freepmail me :) thanks madfly

[madfly]

To view the news video, click on link below
CBS 5 i-Team ^

then click on the TV Camera ICON (below the Headline) to open a popup Java player and select "Getting Away with Murder"

Also, you can contact the Reporter here:
Morgan Loew
Investigative Reporter
News5 Phoenix
(602) 650-0745

MLoew@News5.tv

[gubamyster]

As always, thanks for the ping.

This one is really infuriating. I e-mailed it to Bill O'Reilly, who has really been on the INS & immigration. I also sent it to my Congressman & the President.

[Dante3]

It is outrageous to have Mexico of all countries dictate to us how we should punish the criminals.

[HiJinx]

What I find especially frustrating is that the Attorney General who so far has been unable to correct this situation is now our Governor.

I think I need to find a hidey-hole for a few years...

[janetgreen]

The Mexican government couldn't care less about what its citizens do in the U.S., they just want them to stay here and send money home.

[madfly]

I wonder why Napolitano isn't discussing this situation with at the Mexico-American Conference instead of agreeing to put a stop to the volunteers monitoring the border.

[madfly]

Napolitan is gung ho to stop a crime by the border volunteers that hasn't happened yet. The suspect in this article murdered a 16 year old hispanic cheerleader in the Phoenix area, still he and hundreds of murderers are not being extradited by the Mexican Government for prosecution. And this occurred while Janet'zaNoNo was/IS Arizona's Attorney General.

Is she doing all this before she signs her oath of office, or will she have her fingers crossed on the hand that is not raised to honor our State and US flags. She won the election by getting over 80% of the votes in Pima and another hispanic county so I guess she's bought and paid for by their communities. Read more about Janet here:

AzAnderson.org

[SAMWolf]

Bump! We have a rapist and a nun murderer, both illegals from Mexico under arrest here in Oregon.

[Marauder]

The Mexican government couldn't care less about what its citizens do in the U.S., they just want them to stay here and send money home.

There it is! You nailed it. It's all about money, and here in the states, with all those potential Hispanic votes, it's about power.

[madfly]

Great Links!! :)