Rodolfo Alvarez Medrano

Background

Rodolfo Alvarez Medrano (a/k/a "Kreeper") provided assault weapons used by fellow members of the Tri-City Bombers gang in slayings that were sentenced to death. Medrano was also indicted in the slaying of four women in September 2002. The slayings were allegedly ordered by the gang’s leader from prison to retaliate against a witness who had helped put him there, but gang members attacked a carload of six women who did not contain the witness against whom the hit had been ordered.

The offence

January 5, 2003 pseudo-cop robbery-homicide involving six men

This trial involved a gang-related “pseudo-cop” robbery-homicide of six men, some of whom were rival gang members of the “Bombita” gang to which appellant belonged.

In the early morning hours of January 5, 2003, police responded to a 9-1-1 call and found the bodies of six men at 2915 East Monte Cristo Road in Edinburg. There were two houses on the property separated by a dirt driveway.

• Jerry Hidalgo was found lying face down in the kitchen of the larger house on the west side of the driveway (“west-side house”). His hands and legs were bound with extension cords. He sustained numerous gunshot wounds, and there was a bullet hole in his back with blood around his head. The living room had been ransacked, and it appeared someone had rummaged through a bedroom, leaving the bed mattress standing on its side.
• Juan Delgado, III, was found lying face down in the grass outside the front door of the smaller house on the east side of the driveway (“east-side house”). He had a fatal gunshot wound to the back of his neck. There was a live 9-millimeter round in the grass near his body.
• Police also discovered the bodies of Juan Delgado, Jr., who had been shot in the back and head, and Jimmy Almendarez, who had suffered multiple gunshot wounds including a fatal head wound.
• The bodies of Ray Hidalgo and Ruben Castillo were found in another room. Ray had sustained two gunshot wounds to the head and was missing an eye. Ruben had suffered multiple gunshot wounds including shots to the buttocks.
• Police found a burnt marijuana cigarette and small baggies of marijuana and cocaine in that room. The east-side house had also been ransacked, and the victims’ pockets had been pulled out.

Ballistics evidence included 7.62 by 39 caliber bullets and casings. Police recovered a cooking pan and black skull caps from the west-side house and a “cold weather knit cap” from the open field behind the houses.

Three cars were parked at the scene:

• an inoperable dark-colored Dodge Ram that belonged to Rosie Gutierrez
• a small maroon car rented by Jimmy Almendarez
• a brown Buick Regal that belonged to Luis Villa

Donna murders involving four women

Medrano’s indictment included a slaying in September 2002 in Donna where four women were killed and another was seriously injured. Authorities described the incident as a deadly shooting spree where the women were ambushed as they arrived home. Investigators swarmed an abandoned vehicle believed to be involved. Authorities said they were still looking for suspects, believed to include a man known only as “el negro” and two other men who used several assault rifles to kill the four women and wound a fifth.

Investigation

Police received information about a “pseudo-cop” robbery and took various suspects into custody.

Police discovered that suspect Rodolfo Medrano (a/k/a “Kreeper”) had given his friend Miguel Tinajero some weapons to hide. Tinajero testified that on January 20, Medrano gave him a long case and said: “Take this and put it away.” Tinajero later opened the case and saw three military-style rifles inside. Tinajero placed the weapons inside the trunk of a car at his father’s residence in Elsa. When he opened the trunk, he saw that other weapons had already been placed inside. Tinajero testified that Medrano had been to his father’s residence before and knew where the car keys were kept. Tinajero notified police about the guns.

Two of the guns, State’s Exhibits 107 and 113, had apparent bloodstains and were submitted for DNA testing. The stain on the stock area of State’s Exhibit 107 was inconclusive. The stain on the muzzle of State’s Exhibit 113 was consistent with the DNA profile of victim Delgado, Jr.

Arrest

Police questioned Luis Villa after the shootings. Villa told police that he and Castillo took Delgado, Jr. to “Ray’s house” at 9:30 p.m. Villa and Castillo then tried to go to a nightclub, but Villa was denied entrance because he did not have proper identification. They returned to Ray’s house at about 10:30 p.m.

Delgado, III came to the house with a friend about 12:30 a.m. Castillo went outside to use the bathroom, and Villa heard a voice tell Castillo: “Hey you mother fucker get your ass on the floor . . .” Villa heard gunshots and jumped out the window. Villa told Delgado, Jr. to follow him, but Delgado, Jr. did not do so. As Villa ran away, he heard “two kinds of machine guns shooting at the same time.”

Villa’s friend Jose Carreon testified that he called Villa on his cell phone around 1:00 or 1:30 a.m. Carreon testified that Villa, who was “scared, tired, [and] running,” said: “they were shooting at him, and they shot his cousins.” Carreon heard gunshots in the background. Carreon also lived near the scene and heard gunshots outside.

Trial

Testimony of Rosie Gutierrez

Rosie Gutierrez testified that she and her sons, Jerry and Ray Hidalgo, lived at 2915 East Monte Cristo Road, and that the Delgados, Almendarez, and Castillo were her sons’ friends. On the night of January 4, she played dominoes with her sons in the west-side house. Ray went to the east-side house with Delgado, Jr. at around midnight. Shortly thereafter, she and Jerry finished playing dominoes and went into the living room.

Gutierrez testified that she had a medical condition that affected her legs, so she laid down in a borrowed hospital bed she kept in the living room to watch television while Jerry talked on the phone with a friend. She testified that she heard loud booming noises that sounded like fireworks, then someone banged on her door, and three or four men entered her house.

Gutierrez testified that the leader, a man who spoke Spanish and had a long gun with holes in the barrel, pointed the gun at her head and told her to lie down and face the wall. She testified that he was wearing a ski mask and a jacket with the word “Police” on the sleeves and back. She testified that he ordered his cohorts to tie up Gutierrez and Jerry, and they used extension cords to do so. She testified that the man who tied up Gutierrez was unmasked and carried a smaller handgun. She testified that the other men who restrained Jerry were masked, and she was unsure if they had guns.

Gutierrez testified that the leader demanded: “drugs, money, gold and guns” and kept hitting Jerry in the head with his gun. She testified that Jerry responded that they did not have anything. She testified that “They” told Jerry to take off his gold necklace and asked for the car keys. She testified that Jerry answered that the car was “no good” and that they would get caught if they left in it.

Gutierrez testified that “The guy” pulled off Jerry’s tennis shoes and asked if anyone wanted them. She testified that he then dropped the tennis shoes and stated: “Let’s go,” and they left.

Gutierrez testified that shortly thereafter, “a man with a ski mask” carrying a long gun and wearing a jacket with “Police” on it came back into the house and ransacked the living room. She testified that the man left, came back inside, shot Jerry “a whole bunch of times,” then left again. Gutierrez testified that she then untied herself and called 9-1-1.

Testimony of Miguel Tinajero about weapons provided by Medrano

Miguel Tinajero testified that on January 20, Medrano gave him a long case and said: “Take this and put it away.” He placed the weapons inside the trunk of a car at his father’s residence in Elsa and notified police about the guns. Tinajero testified that when he opened the trunk, other weapons had already been placed inside, and that Medrano had been to his father’s residence before and knew where the car keys were kept.

Sentencing

On September 8, 2005, Medrano was sentenced to death.

Aftermath

Medrano provided assault weapons used by fellow Tri-City Bombers gang members in slayings in which other individuals were also sentenced to death, including Humberto Garza.