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VOLUME INDEX  
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CASE NUMBER: 33-7612-21/A
CHANDLER POLICE DEPARTMENT INCIDENT REPORT April 8th 2007, 2230, OFFICER CERRATO and I responded to a priority call from Dispatch in regards to a landlord homeowner who saw lights and motions in an abandoned property. When we arrived at the premises the homeowner, identified as FRANK L. GILFORD, 54, was waiting across the street. He described “movement and lights” witnessed by neighbors who were not available for questioning. He himself also witnessed shadows moving against the windows ten minutes before we arrived. With MR GILFORD’s permission OFFICER CERRATO and I entered through the front door of the premises using a key provided by MR GILFORD. Whereupon we found the interior empty and abandoned. We cleared the first floor and discovered no current occupants or evidence of a break in. The back door, kitchen door, and front door were all intact to inspection. We ascended the stairs onto the second floor and began to clear the upper rooms. Upon entering what would be the master bedroom we came upon a pool of blood-like liquid approximately four feet across in the center of the floor. Unrecognizable symbols and writing was scrawled on all four walls with patterns and diagrams. Upon this discovery I immediately radioed for a rescue unit, a crime scene unit, and a supervisor. OFFICER CERRATO went back down to the first floor to circle around the building from the front and I exited through the back door onto the balcony. We made a full circle of the perimeter and found no sign of any other parties. SARGENT C. COOPER arrived by taxi cab at 2255 and I appraised him of our findings while two other units secured the crime scene for CSU and rescue. At this time SARGENT COOPER took charge of the crime scene asked that OFFICER CERRATO and I speak with DETECTIVES E. TATE and M. HALE from Major Case about what we observed inside the premises.
CHANDLER POLICE DEPARTMENT DETECTIVE
CRIME SCENE REPORT The house is a two-story colonial with three exits on the first floor and one on the second. The second floor is set back within the house and only covers half the floor space of the first floor. There is no sign of habitation in the past six months. Footprints in the collected dust appear to follow the route of the incident officers (see CSU photographs 201A-3002A) what spare furniture there is on the first floor is covered with undisturbed dusty sheets. The room in which Officers Millard and Cerrato discovered a “pool of blood-like liquid” is a 14’x20’ room with a door on the East wall exiting onto the main abode, on the West wall leads to a wooden external staircase, and South wall that enters into a small bathroom with a sink and bathtub and a second door opening into an adjacent room. The floor is black packed and lacquered tile; the walls are an off white color. It appears the floor was laid recently and the walls also painted. Officers at the scene note the door to the bathroom was closed but do not recall state of the back door. The room felt cold, abnormally cold at 72.3ºF, in spite of the 90ºF temperature outside at near midnight. The smell of detergents and licorice lingered in the air even after the removal of CSU from the room who were currently on scene. No officers or CSU at the scene interviewed had these smells on them so it was brought into the room by the intruders. A wide puddle of blood (positive on field test for blood) in the center of the floor measuring over 6’ diameter at its widest and 5’ at its narrowest has darkened and partially coagulated. Samples have been taken by CSU to DNA for further testing. Visual estimation is there are at least four liters of blood here. Near the center of the puddle is a visible imprint that takes on the appearance of a cloven hoof (see CSU photographs 345-348B.) Several unknown fibers have been recovered from the edge of the puddle as well as a poppet doll (see CSU photographs 349-355.) Red paint covers all four walls with various diagrams and yet unidentified writing (see CSU photographs reels C and D). East wall: one giant pentagram (6’ in diameter), point down, along with apparent astrological signs. South Wall: undeciphered writing, further astrological symbols. West Wall: another pentagram (5’ in diameter). North Wall: lop-sided pentagram (8” in diameter longest 4’3” shortest) two lines parallel to the floor at 1’ and 6’, apparent spray and spatter of blood (field test positive) between them. Prints recovered from the floor in several places and the along the wall display a very small hand size, possibly a child. Prints taken by latent have been rushed to an FBI lab for processing against Missing and Exploited Persons databases. No prints on the wall, handles of doors, or in the bathroom.
CHANDLER POLICE DEPARTMENT DETECTIVE
SUPPLEMENTAL REPORT Fingerprints from the crime scene came back for one Catalina Sanchez, age 5, daughter of Emelio Sanchez, age 26, currently on trial for the shooting deaths of Molly Walters, age 6, and Linda Walters, age 32. Deceased are mother and daughter. Catalina Sanchez has been missing for four days when she was taken from her maternal grandmother’s residence on April 6th and reported missing the same day. Blood from the wall and the floor have come back from DNA with multiple contributions, although rushed processing is being hampered by possible contamination. Matched from reference one of the contributions is from Catalina Sanchez and another from an individual either father or brother, since she is an only child we assume that contribution must be from Emilio Sanchez. As he is in prison awaiting trial it is unlikely he was at the scene himself. Two other contributions contained matches from CODIS for Garcia Francis, age 25, and Salvador Vega, age 20. Both members of the 8th Street Angels gang (Ángeles de la Ocho Calle) from Central Phoenix – a gang Emelio Sanchez is a known member. Picked up on numerous charges including possession of unlicensed firearms, drug charges, intimidation, and assault. We have been asked to assist the FBI investigation in to the disappearance of Catalina Sanchez by pursuing leads developed from this case. Patrol has been sent out to pick up both Garcia Francis and Salvador Vega for questioning.
CHANDLER POLICE DEPARTMENT DETECTIVE
SUPPLEMENTAL REPORT Garcia Francis is dead. He was found in critical condition on the floor of the bathroom of Taco Boy in Phoenix where he was employed. Stab wounds sustained to his throat, chest, and legs. He was pronounced dead at the hospital. See case number 33-7612-80. A mirror in the bathroom of the restaurant was found to have had writing drawn on it with an eyeliner pen found at the scene. Message written is as follows: Let her go or I will hunt you
down Judging by the angle and curvature of the writing suggests a feminine hand; the angle and height at which the message was written suggests an individual between 5’8 and 6’ tall. Latent discovered a partial print on the eyeliner pen and are currently processing it.
CHANDLER POLICE DEPARTMENT DETECTIVE
SUPPLEMENTAL REPORT The FBI have brought in Marino Delgado, age 23, on suspicion of kidnapping Catalina Sanchez. He is Catalina’s maternal uncle and a registered sex offender; although I do not find public urination to be a highly dangerous crime the FBI disagree. He has a few connections with custodial interference charges involving domestic disagreements between Maria (mother, deceased) and Emilio Sanchez. After reading the transcripts of his interrogation I do not believe he is involved—he is currently cooling his heels in the Horseshoe lockup in Phoenix on a bench warrant for failure to appear. Agent Anderson, FBI, cites documents yet unreleased to me about the disappearance of Catalina Sanchez as his motivation to interrogate Marino. Patrol and Gang Unit have not yet located Salvador Vega or any of the 8th Street Angels to question them about his whereabouts. Detective Emily Tate and I have been canvassing the area of the Taco Boy where Garcia Francis was killed and the neighborhood of the initial break in. Witnesses at the Taco Boy describe no strange vehicles except a back and white taxi cab that stayed only ten minutes and nobody got out. Two or more vans of varying descriptions and a truck filled to the brim with Hispanic youths who only bought sodas and harassed employees. Judging by the witness reports Francis must have been killed inside of the bathroom by an assailant who was not seen entering or exiting the premises. Judging by the savagery of the attack this is difficult to believe; that room was covered in spatter, the attacker’s clothing would have been dripping like a butcher’s apron in June.
CHANDLER POLICE DEPARTMENT DETECTIVE
SUPPLEMENTAL REPORT Fingerprints came back from the eyeliner pen from the Taco Boy murder. They match one Elizabeth Boughtwood, 55, mother of Linda Walters.
CHANDLER POLICE DEPARTMENT DETECTIVE
SUPPLEMENTAL REPORT Detective Tate and I paid a visit to the Boughtwood residence at 801 De Canto Dr., Mesa. Mrs. Boughtwood was not in but a member of her maid service, Castanya Blanca, allowed us entry to get a glass of water. According to Ms. Blanca, Mrs. Boughtwood has been on vacation in Paris for the past week. Phone calls to her travel agency show that she has not booked any flights and I have no reason to get a warrant for her financials. A brief inspection of her house revealed nothing out of the ordinary. Detective Tate did collect an eyeliner pen from master bathroom that had the same color as the one from the Taco Boy murder. Ms. Blanca also thought to mention that a taxi arrived to pick up Mrs. Boughtwood the day before, but as Mrs. Boughtwood was already out of the country this didn’t make sense to her. She could not recall the company that the cab belong to, the name of the driver, or the driver herself just that the driver was a very polite individual who did not take offence when Ms. Blanca had to send her away. Another member of the 8th Street Angels has been found murdered outside of his residence in Phoenix. Stabbed repeatedly about the torso. Jamie Lopez, age 25. The blade pierced his heart and both lungs. According to the ME, unlike the previous attack this one was far more precise but just as brutal. Curious excerpts from the witness reports form the scene catch my attention: GEOFF HIMMER, 44, reported to the patrolman that he “…saw an older woman and a young girl with dark hair enter the front door of the residence, but he did not see them exit.” This witness statement has been corroborated by three other eye witnesses, the children of a neighbor (MARCY CABBLE, 32 mother of HENRY, 4; CASSANDRA, 8; and TIMOTHY 12) who also saw an elderly woman and a dark haired girl in the driveway. The mother, MARCY, herself saw nothing as she was reading a romance novel. No evidence of any other vehicle in the driveway other than the deceased in the last 24 hours. Neighbors recollect no suspicious activity in the past 24 hours. CSU is still processing latent prints from within the house and the body. No results yet.
PERSONAL INTERDEPARTMENTAL MEMO The FBI Missing Persons unit working with this office believe that they have credible information from Mr. Marino Delgado in the kidnapping case of Catalina Sanchez. He has mentioned that Emelio Sanchez expressed fear for his daughter’s life and asked him to remove her from the custody of her legal guardian for the purpose of protecting her. Rival gangs are suspected. He has confessed to removing the minor child from the residence of the grandmother and taking her across state lines into California making anything further an FBI jurisdictional matter. With our case load already backed up this should conclude this investigation. The FBI have thanked us for our assistance. I want your paperwork for this entire case on my desk tomorrow morning at 9am sharp. We have other fish to fry.
PERSONAL NOTE ADDENDUM TO POSTMORTEM
REPORT Captain’s Eyes Only I am growing concerned about the emotional welfare of my partner, Michael Hale. This last case involving the pool of blood discovered in an abandoned building in Chandler and its connection to a missing girl has placed a great deal of stress on him. I don’t think that he’s slept or gone home to see his wife in the past three days. Being taken off that case has not sat well with him and he will not talk to me about it. Today he took one of the department unmarked cars for four hours and would not tell me where he went or what he was doing. He has become increasingly edgy about the FBI’s handling of the case and critical of the nature of the investigation. It wouldn’t be any of my business talking behind his back but if I don’t who can?
JOURNAL ENTRY I went to see Emlio Sanchez in lockup today. There is something fishy about the FBI’s take on this investigation that I do not like. There are too many questions that they think are being answered by Mr. Delgado. Sanchez fed me a cock-and-bull story about his innocence in the shooting murders, jawing on about he was railroaded by the system – telling him about his daughter shut him up fast. I’ve seen some tough characters in my time, and with his scars and tattoos, Sanchez ranks up there with many of them – it made the fear that sunk into his eyes all the more genuine. Like a real tough-guy he told me it was taken care of. So I let on how the FBI caught up with Marino Delgado but Catalina wasn’t with the man. After a little hemming and hawing and more posturing Sanchez finally broke down and told me that he’d been threatened in his prison cell (and conveniently did not tell any of the guards.) He had received the death threat in the form of a broken rosary with thirteen beads, dipped in blood, and wrapped around a photograph of his daughter. This meant, he said, that she had thirteen days to live. I wrote down the name and address of the place he had asked his brother-in-law to take Catalina in case the FBI might use it, but I don’t think she’s there. Sanchez would not reveal to me who would have given him such a threat, but he surmised that he had many enemies who could reach into the prison to deliver it. He suggested a rival gang, the Dos Toros, but I suspect he’s hiding something. He probably knows about his gang brothers being murdered. Chances are he believes he’s next. Then something weird happened after I returned to the station. After taking a long shower, in the lockers I discovered this written on the fogged mirror: Find Salvador Vega. I can say without a doubt that I was alone in the locker room. George at the front desk said nobody entered or exited while I was in there. The words were drawn with a finger so that when the mirror fogged they would appear. The writing appears to be by the same person who left the message with the eye liner pencil. (The lab has matched the sample from that mirror to the pencil taken from Mrs. Boughtwood’s house. How is she involved in this?) As I cannot tell anyone about this message left for me in the locker room. I am keeping my mouth shut. Perhaps it’s time that I talked to Salvador Vega.
NOTICE OF PSYCHIATRIC LEAVE OF ABSENCE DETECTIVE MICHAEL D. HALE is hereby SUSPENDED FROM ACTIVE DUTY for a duration of TWO WEEKS paid leave for psychiatric reasons. He has been asked to surrender his badge and weapon. He will be contacted by the department about how his suspension will proceed. Suspension effective immediately.
JOURNAL ENTRY The captain suspended me today for “psychiatric reasons.” I don’t know what’s going on but my partner, Emily, didn’t look pleased about it. I can’t say I blame her. Two weeks? She’ll probably get stuck with that rookie “Butterfingers” Hillman. I feel for her. Henry told me to go home and relax. I’m home – I can’t relax. Something is really fishy about this case. The FBI wouldn’t take the information I got out of Emilio. They have heard about my suspension and won’t talk to me. Good thing that I still have some friends in the Bureau and at the department. My wife is still on a personal vacation out on the Reservation so I tried to sit and watch football and drink some beers. I got through three Coronas when the phone rang. Seems that word of my suspension hasn’t totally circulated. Identification Division thinks the markings on the wall are reminiscent of a religion called Santeria and that most of art is diversionary attempting to distract viewers from the main stage which is the center of the room. The ritual is part of a “vendetta pact” between families. Declaring war. Very Romeo and Juliet if you ask me. The report suggests that anyone marked by blood or name (the words on the walls were names scrawled in blood.) Among those names on the wall were most of the 8th Street Angels gang, including Emilio. On a hunch, I asked about rosary beads. He said that they were sometimes used in rituals but not in the fashion I had described. I looked back through some of the documents from forensics on the blood covered doll there were rosary beads sewn onto it as well. I still have some of the old paperwork on Vega. It says that he works weekend nights in a warehouse district. A lead that was never followed up. Lucky for me, I have some good pals on the force. I called Jake Holland, a patrolman out of Central Phoenix precinct and he told me that he’d give me a ride around the city in a couple hours to help me clear my head. Stuck to the underside of one of the forensics reports I found a DNA lab report on those hair-like fibers I collected from next to the poppet doll. They had a mitochondrial match to a member of Linda Walters’ family. That must be what Emilio is afraid of. This isn’t about gang rivalry – this is personal.
ALL POINTS BULLETIN :: MARICOPA COUNTY
DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY Be on the lookout for escaped prisoner. EMILIO PABLO SANCHEZ has escaped incarceration during prisoner transfer from Phoenix Correctional Facility to Florence Penitentiary. Correctional officers witnessed prisoner Sanchez being loaded into the back of the transport vehicle along with several other inmates to be transferred but he was discovered missing upon arrival at the Florence facility. There are also weapons missing from armored lockup at the transfer station; it is believed that prisoner Sanchez is now in possession of these weapons. EMILIO SANCHEZ is to be considered escapee fugitive from law and is ARMED AND DANGEROUS. It is believed that inmates assisted his escape from the correctional facility before the transport vehicle left the grounds in Phoenix. Photographs and physical description to follow FAX cover sheet.
OFFICIAL DISPATCH TRANSCRIPT [Muffled sounds of gunfire.] OFFICER: Dispa — [Bang!] OPERATOR: This is dispatch plea — OFFICER: 10-40, shots fired! North Corando near Tenth Street and Camelback. Single armed assailant. I repeat shots fired! Requesting backup! [BACKGROUND] Fuck you, pigs! [Bang-bang. Bang.] OPERATOR: Can you identify yourself, sir? I am dispatching backup to your location now. Please repeat your position. OFFICER: Detective Hale, Major Ca — [Muffled scream.] OFFICER: Officer down! [Muffled] Jake … stay down! Don’t move! … North Coranado, warehouse, north of Tenth Street near Camelback intersection. [DISPATCH OPERATOR: To all cars in the vicinity of Tenth and Camelback, officers in danger, shots fired. Ambulance en route.] [Loud screeching is heard — tires squealing.] OFFICER: What the hell is that? [BACKGROUND] [Muffled] — taxi cab … cornering … OFFICER: Get them the hell out of here! … where did they go? [Sirens.] [BACKGROUND] [Muffled speech] – El Infierno me rompá los dientes! Chinga tu ma — [Bang-bang-bang.] OFFICER: Assailant retreating on foot into nearby building. Officers in pursuit! END OF TRANSCRIPT
EXCERPT FROM IAB SHOOT INTERVIEW SPENCER: We really appreciate you cooperating at this early time, Detective, but I want to let you know that you can end this at any time. HALE: I would like to go on, sir. SPENCER: Okay. You mention pursing then gunman, now known to be Salvador Vega, into the warehouse. Please describe the events leading up to your shooting of Vega and your ultimate discovery. HALE: I approached the door with my weapon drawn. I heard what I believed to be a little girl crying for help— SPENCER: You told an officer on scene you heard a child calling for her father. HALE: Yes, yes. She was yelling in Spanish. The two words I recognized were “help” and “father.” SPENCER: Okay. What happened next? HALE: I entered the warehouse and heard sounds of an altercation. I could hear women’s voices raised and—well, it sounded to me like someone, somewhere in that warehouse, was on the receiving end an ECW-style beat down. I could hear patrol cars arriving outside, so I pressed further. Vega emerged from some shadows further in, his back was to me. He was shouting something in Spanish about a bruja, a witch. I leveled my weapon, identified myself, and called for him to drop his weapon. That caught his attention, but instead of dropping, he turned and pointed his weapon at me. I discharged my weapon twice. Dropped him on the spot. Two bullets, center mass. Four officers entered behind me. Two of them secured Vega while I moved toward the sound of the brawl and the weeping child. SPENCER: And what did you discover there? HALE: I almost tripped over the prone body of Elizabeth Boughtwood. I recognized her from her DMV photo, but just barely: She’d been worked over real bad. I would have assumed there she was another vic, except that she was holding a bloody knife. Only a few feet away, I discovered the missing child, Catalina Sanchez. She was weeping over her father, Emilio Sanchez. He was injured bad. Bleeding everywhere…
OFFICIAL DEPARTMENTAL INCIDENT REPORT TO BOARD
INQUIRY To the events of April 15th 2007 I will try to summarize from reports given to me by my officers and others involved at the scene. Detective Michael Hale and Patrolman Jake Holland arrived at Thompson’s Warehouse to interview Salvador Vega. Upon exiting the patrol car outside of the warehouse they immediately came under fire from an unidentified assailant (now identified as Vega) and requested backup. In the ensuing gun battle Holland was struck by a bullet that penetrated his vest. He is at Desert Samaritan in stable condition. Hale pursued Vega into the building as patrol cars 165 and 121 arrived on scene. There Hale shot Vega twice in the chest – he is being held in the prisoner’s wing of Desert Samaritan and is in guarded condition. During an interview with detectives, Vega confessed to being the gunman involved in the shooting deaths of Molly and Linda Walters. Ballistics has tied the weapon used to injure Patrolman Holland directly to that shooting. Missing child, Catalina Sanchez was recovered on scene as well as fugitive Emilio Sanchez. Hale’s report describes how he found Catalina hugging her father who had been stabbed twice in the chest with a serrated weapon also recovered at the scene. His wounds had been dressed with field pressure bandages formed from strips of leather and paramedics report that he would have died of blood loss if this had not been done. Arrested at the scene also was Elizabeth Joan Boughtwood. Now believed to be connected to multiple murders over the past few days and the kidnapping of Catalina Sanchez. She was taken also to Desert Samaritan to be treated for a dislocated jaw, four broken ribs, ruptured spleen, and a shattered femur. Boughtwood is in critical condition and is not expected to live through the night. Unreliable witness reports from Catalina herself state that Boughtwood was attacked by a woman wearing black, wielding a crowbar. The unknown woman intervened while Boughtwood was stabbing Sanchez. CSU has discovered no evidence of this woman at the crime scene. See the transcript of the brief interview with Catalina for the rest of her testimony on the subject. Catalina asserts that the woman knelt next to her and told her to wait by her father because the police would be there soon. The DA is considering dropping murder charges against Emilio Sanchez to bring them against Santiago Vega in light of this new evidence. There is still the strange case of Emilio Sanchez’s escape from custody on the day of these events. No explanation has come forthwith; however, a CSU examination of the scene of his escape has come up with DNA and trace evidence that Boughtwood was at the scene – absurd, but irrefutable. One theory involves the exchange officers not putting him onto the transport vehicle, and Boughtwood taking him from the area. Emilio had been sedated so would have been an easy subject to move. The missing weapons from the armory locker has proven to be a false alarm. They were not signed out by a rookie and returned at the end of the day. Escape charges against Sanchez are still pending. It will be up to the DA if they will be pursued or not. APPENDED RECOMMENDATION Detective Michael Hale is an excellent officer and a good man, and while I cannot say enough good about him, he did break his suspension to continue to involve himself in this closed investigation. While punitive measures at this point are unavoidable, I would like to ask the disciplinary review board to be lenient in view of his excellent record and exemplary service.
EXCERPT FROM INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT INTERVIEWER: And what did the woman do next? CATALINA: She told me to be brave… INTERVIEWER: You were very brave. Did you see what happened next? Did you notice where she went? CATALINA: No… I couldn’t see. I’m so sorry I — INTERVIEWER: That’s okay. CATALINA: Do you know who she is? INTERVIEWER: I’m sorry, Catalina, we don’t. CATALINA: Oh, okay. But if you find out who she is can you tell her something for me? INTERVIEWER: Sure, sure. I think we can do that. CATALINA: Tell her thank you for saving my papá. I love him very much. |
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