Free Republic

When U.S. special agent Jaime Zapata was shot dead one year ago on a notorious stretch of highway in central Mexico, he was driving a $160,000 armored Chevy Suburban, built to exacting government standards, designed to defeat high-velocity gunfire, fragmentation grenades and land mines. But the vehicle had a basic, fatal flaw. Forced off the road in a well-coordinated ambush, surrounded by drug cartel gunmen brandishing AK-47s, Zapata and his partner, Victor Avila, rolled to a stop. Zapata put the vehicle in park. The door locks popped up. That terrifying sound — a quiet click — set into motion events...

St. Teresa de Avila (courtesy of Treasures of Grace) [The following quotes from St. Teresa de Avila about her devotion to St. Joseph are taken from her autobiography, and were quoted on St. Teresa of Avila's devotion to St. Joseph.] "I took for my advocate and lord the glorious Saint Joseph and commended myself earnestly to him; and I found that this my father and lord delivered me both from this trouble [a temporary paralysis] and also from other and greater troubles concerning my honor and the loss of my soul, and that he gave me greater blessings than I...

TIJUANA, Mexico – A key hitman for Mexico's Arellano Felix drug cartel was arrested on Saturday in this crime-ridden border city, in another coup for President Felipe Calderón's clampdown on traffickers. After an anonymous tip-off, soldiers stormed a house and arrested Alfredo Araujo Avila, also known as Popeye, Tijuana's military chief Gen. German Redondo told reporters. “He is considered one of the most dangerous hitmen of the Arellano Felix cartel,” Gen. Redondo said. Araujo Avila had dodged arrest for a decade in Tijuana, which is just over the U.S. border from San Diego. He is wanted in the United States...

Shackled skeleton found in Ávila By h.b. Wed, 31 Jan 2007, 14:05 The famous Ávila city walls in recent snow - Photo EFE A skeleton tied up with shackles and chains and thought to date from the Middle Ages has been found in an archaeological dig in Ávila, behind the city’s Church of San Pedro. It’s the second such find in the city, although coming in a different place, and it has led experts to think that death occurred during some form of punishment. Tomorrow, Thursday the latest find will be taken to the Provincial Museum where the skeleton will...

Madrid, Jan. 04, 2006 (CNA) - Bishop Demetrio Fernandez of Tarazona, Spain, has issued a letter denouncing a new film on St. Teresa of Avila that portrays her as a sex symbol and is the subject of an “orchestrated media campaign” to depict the saint solely “through the prism of sex.”Teresa, Muerte y Vida (Teresa, Death and Life) is currently being shot in Spain by director Ray Loriga and stars Paz Vega as St. Teresa.In his letter entitled, “Poor St. Teresa,” Bishop Fernandez noted the human and spiritual transcendence of the Spanish mystic who “made history before the arrival of...

October 15, 2005Memorial of Saint Teresa of Jesus, virgin and doctor of the Church Psalm: Saturday 44 Reading IRom 4:13, 16-18 Brothers and sisters:It was not through the lawthat the promise was made to Abraham and his descendantsthat he would inherit the world,but through the righteousness that comes from faith.For this reason, it depends on faith, so that it may be a gift,and the promise may be guaranteed to all his descendants,not to those who only adhere to the lawbut to those who follow the faith of Abraham,who is the father of all of us, as it is written,I have...

SANTA ANA, Calif. — A judge on Friday formally sentenced to death the man who kidnapped, sexually assaulted and murdered 5-year-old Samantha Runnion (search) in 2002 — a case that led to the expansion of child abduction alerts on electronic billboards along California's freeways. A jury convicted former factory worker Alejandro Avila (search), 30, in April and voted for the death penalty in May. On Friday, Superior Court Judge William R. Froeberg endorsed the jury's recommendation. "You shall suffer the death penalty," the judge told Avila, who looked away.

Avila jurors told to ignore airing The judge presiding over the high-profile case of the man accused of kidnapping and murdering a 5-year-old Stanton girl told jurors Wednesday that a radio talk show is “making a mockery of the criminal-justice system” and they should not listen to it. Orange County Superior Court Judge William R. Froeberg said the discussions on the “John and Ken Show,” which airs from 3 to 7 p.m. weekdays on KFI/640 AM, “have gotten so far out of hand that we had to deal with it.” Froeberg ordered the eight men and four women just sworn...

October 15, 2004 Memorial of Saint Teresa of Jesus, virgin and doctor of the Church Psalm: Friday 44 Reading I Responsorial Psalm Gospel Reading IEph 1:11-14 Brothers and sisters: In Christ we were also chosen, destined in accord with the purpose of the One who accomplishes all things according to the intention of his will, so that we might exist for the praise of his glory, we who first hoped in Christ. In him you also, who have heard the word of truth, the Gospel of your salvation, and have believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy...

HAVANA -- A former political prisoner whose case was highlighted by President Bush urged Cuba's government Friday to hold a referendum on whether to change the communist island's political system. In a 10-page report called "The Cuba We Want," Leonardo Bruzon Avila and fellow dissident Carlos Rios Otero called for the referendum and laid out a plan for Cuba's transition to a multiparty, democratic system and free-market economy. The report was delivered Friday to the offices of Cuban Justice Minister Roberto Diaz Sotolongo. There was no public reaction by the President Fidel Castro's government to the recommendations. The proposal echoed...

October 15, 2003Memorial of Saint Teresa of Jesus, virgin and doctor of the Church Psalm: Wednesday 44 Reading I Responsorial Psalm Gospel Reading IRom2:1-11 You, O man, are without excuse, every one of you who passes judgment.For by the standard by which you judge another you condemn yourself,since you, the judge, do the very same things.We know that the judgment of God on those who do such things is true.Do you suppose, then, you who judge those who engage in such thingsand yet do them yourself,that you will escape the judgment of God?Or do you hold his priceless kindness, forbearance,...

October 15, 2002Memorial of Saint Teresa of Jesus, virgin and doctor of the Church Psalm: Tuesday 44 Reading I Responsorial Psalm Gospel Reading IGal 5:1-6 Brothers and sisters:For freedom Christ set us free;so stand firm and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery. It is I, Paul, who am telling youthat if you have yourselves circumcised,Christ will be of no benefit to you.Once again I declare to every man who has himself circumcisedthat he is bound to observe the entire law.You are separated from Christ,you who are trying to be justified by law;you have fallen from grace.For through...

Far be it for me to complain about things when something appears different than what I had previously been told. I know, I know, I get the criticism all the time. "Kevin, you're just so analytical!" ". . . Why do you spend so much time, clarifying the details. . . " Silly, silly, me! Oh well, forgive me, here I go again... According to today's Washington Post, Chelsea J. Carter reports that the man who has been arrested in the killing of Samantha Runnion had been previously acquitted of another molesting charge. Evidently the story goes like this: Alejandro...

Source: DNA Links Man to Calif. Girl Sat Jul 20, 6:43 PM ET By CHELSEA J. CARTER, Associated Press Writer STANTON, Calif. (AP) - DNA evidence found on the body of 5-year-old Samantha Runnion matches that of the man arrested in her killing, The Associated Press learned Saturday. A source close to the investigation, who declined to be identified, confirmed a report in the Los Angeles Times Saturday that DNA discovered on the girl's body matched that of Alejandro Avila. The source would not elaborate on the type of genetic material used for the match. Spokesman Jim Amormino, of the...

Man arrested in Samantha's killing Alejandro Avila had frequently visited the complex where the Runnion family lived. July 20, 2002 By BILL RAMS, JEFF COLLINS and ALDRIN BROWN The Orange County Register STANTON – A desperate search for the sexual predator who killed Samantha Runnion ended Friday with the arrest of a man acquitted last year of molesting a former friend of hers. Alejandro Avila, 27, was picked up near his mother's apartment in Lake Elsinore, where he lived, three days after Samantha's nude body was found in a remote area off Ortega (74) Highway. More than 400 investigators followed...