(Brownsville, Texas) A 25-year-old Mexican woman, Angela Camacho, pleaded guilty today to three counts of capital murder and received three life prison sentences, to run concurrently.
From the Houston Chronicle:
Camacho and 24-year-old John Allen Rubio, her common-law husband, were accused of strangling and decapitating her two daughters, 3-year-old Julissa Quezada and 2-month-old Mary Jane Rubio, in 2003. The couple allegedly washed themselves afterward and had sex before decapitating their 1-year-old son, John Esthefan Rubio.
A relative called police, who found the girls stuffed in a trash bag and the boy on a bed. Rubio and Camacho told police they thought the children were possessed.
Camacho answered state District Judge Benjamin Euresti's questions in Spanish as he accepted her guilty plea.
[ ... ]
Rubio was convicted and sentenced to death in 2003 after he requested the death penalty. Rubio has since decided to fight the sentence. In February, he was found competent to choose his attorney for the appeal.
According to Cameron County District Attorney Armando R. Villalobos, Camacho's plea bargain ended the case which the Mexican government was prepared to appeal if a death sentence resulted in a jury trial. Camacho could have been the first Mexican woman executed in Texas if there were no plea.
From the Express-News:
Prosecutors argued that the real reason behind the killings was the household's troubled finances. Days before, the couple had been cut off from food stamps and had no money for the month's rent.
A relative discovered the bodies and flagged down a police officer. Officers found the naked body of the little boy at the foot of a bed, his head in a nearby trash bag. The two girls and their severed heads were stuffed into another trash bag.
Hundreds of residents, including children on their first days of Spring Break, watched outside as investigators collected evidence from an apartment littered with dirty baby bottles, deflated birthday balloons, piles of coloring books, pornographic magazines and trash.
Based upon the circumstances, it appears that a Texas jury would have found execution to be an easily justifiable punishment.
Notably, while providing for psychological evaluations, the case of Angela Camacho has been in process and in the news for two years yet, oddly, there has been scant mention of the important fact that she is an illegal alien. Under the presumption that she came to the U.S. to make a better life for herself and her family, one has to wonder what it was she left behind.
One thing is sure, though. The American taxpayer would have saved money if Camacho had been prevented from entering the U.S. to commit crimes. Mexico spawned the murderer. The Mexican taxpayer should pay to prosecute and incarcerate her.
My recommendation is for Texas Gov. Perry to send Mexican President Vincente Fox a bill for the costs of the apprehension, prosecution, court proceeding, lawyers, psychologists, and incarceration of Angela Camacho. Prompt payment should be demanded with the proviso that interest will be charged on the unpaid balance.
It is just not a fair system for U.S. citizens to have their pockets picked by the government to prosecute Mexican criminals. What prevents the Mexican government from simply unloading its prisons and sending its convicts to the U.S.? Castro did it in the Mariel Boatlift in 1980. Hey, as long as America picks up the tab, why not?
Companion post with pic at Interested-Participant.
