Two Mexican nationals have been arrested in Mexico in connection with two separate Colorado incidents that left a turkey hunter dead and another Mexican national dead with 150 stab wounds.
Colorado Attorney General John Suthers announced that Oscar Hoyos DeLaCruz, 50, has been arrested in the death of Aurora turkey hunter Jeff Garrett, 37, who was shot while hunting in Garfield County on May 14, 2005. Garrett was an assistant vice president with Qwest Communications.
Suthers said Mexican authorities have also arrested Lazaro Rey-Muro, 30, in the stabbing death of his roommate, Joel Gonzales-Lopez, who was stabbed repeatedly on Jan. 30, 1999.
“The message this sends is that you can’t flee to Mexico and get an ‘out-of-jail-free card,”‘ Suthers said. “We now have processes in place that we are either going to extradite you or, as an alternative, we are going to have you arrested by Mexican authorities, prosecuted in Mexico and spend time in a Mexican prison, which every Mexican knows is punishment indeed.”
Both men were caught by Mexican officials and both will be prosecuted in Mexican courts. DeLaCruz could face a sentence of 12 to 24 years and Rey-Muro could face 20 to 60 years.
According to Glenwood Springs District Attorney Martin Beeson, who joined Suthers at a press conference, Garrett was turkey hunting using a turkey caller. The prosecutor said DeLaCruz heard the turkey call and shot into the bushes thinking it was a turkey, not realizing it was another person.
“Unfortunately, it is still a criminal act,” Beeson said.
Mexican authorities have charged DeLaCruz with “imprudent homicide,” similar to manslaughter in the United States.
Suthers said Rey-Muro has been charged with the Mexican equivalent of what would be first-degree murder in the United States.
Suthers said the Colorado Attorney General’s Foreign Prosecutions Unit has been responsible for 11 prosecutions and arrests since its inception in 2001. An additional six cases have been filed and their arrests are pending.
Charlotte Garrett, the widow of Jeff Garrett, expressed her thanks to law enforcement agencies.
Staff writer Howard Pankratz can be reached at 303-820-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com.
