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One of the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives was arrested in Mexico and returned to Los Angeles Friday night to face charges of murder, kidnapping and rape, U.S. officials said.
Reputed Los Angeles gang member Joe Luis Saenz was taken into custody in Guadalajara late Thursday following a joint operation with the Mexican government, Bill Lewis, assistant director in charge of the FBI's Los Angeles office, said.
Investigators said Saenz shot and killed two rival gang members in July 1998 to retaliate for an assault on one of his associates.
Saenz suspected Sigrieta Hernandez, his girlfriend and the mother of his daughter, was going to tell police about the slayings, investigators said.
He is accused of kidnapping, raping and killing her less than two weeks later.
Videotape murder
Saenz also is believed to have killed Oscar Torres at his home in suburban Whittier in October 2008 because he failed to repay $600,000 in drug money after police seized the cash during a traffic stop.
Authorities said they have videotape from a surveillance camera at Torres' house that shows Saenz killing Torres and wounding another person.
Saenz was still listed on the FBI’s most-wanted list early Saturday, but with a red caption on his photograph reading “CAPTURED.”
Born in Los Angeles, Saenz was known to travel between the United States and Mexico.
Saenz, who is about 37 years old, was believed to be hiding in Mexico, working as an enforcer and hit man for a Mexican drug cartel.
He had a number of aliases including Zapp, Peanut Joe Smiley and Honeycutt, it added.
Saenz had been on the FBI's most-wanted list since 2009, putting him among the ranks of Osama bin Laden, Boston crime lord James "Whitey" Bulger and other notorious criminals.
There was a reward of up to $100,000 for information leading to his arrest.
The Associated Press, Reuters and NBC's Ian Johnston contributed to this report.
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Leave a Comment:
No trial, no jury, just death. Rehabilitation won't work, get rid of him. Spend no more money or time on this prick, than to execute him.
Yes! Anyone who does not conform to Johnnym75's views --- kill em with fire! Disregard and disrespect our justice system and put this bad guy down!
Just give his young cute ass to Bubba. Hold the KY.
I see we have a REAL jerk on here. Yes I am talking about GCK-WYO. You are an ash and I see you hide your real identity, good choice because I might whip you on sight and am not sure I could stop before I beat you to death, PUNK.
This knob in the article is not worth anything BUT a killing and I for one have no desire to spend one thin dime on his 'maintainance'. Arrange an 'escape' attempt and execute him during said attempt.
@SouthernGent I hoped my sarcasm was evident.
We have DUE PROCESS of the law and we should follow whether it is a rapist, murderer, or petty theft. I never said that I wanted this guy free or to spend his life in prison. BUT I do want DUE PROCESS.
@SouthernGent
If you are going to call yourself a southern gentleman, don't make threats against people over the internet. DERP.
no money wasted on hum at all. first, rape him like he did the mother of his child, then make him suffer a slow death. shooting him is to fast of a death. glad he was finally caught. the stupid jerk.
Another 100K per year expense to taxpayers of CA to keep this pos in prision. He will only be replaced by a new punk, they should just be hanged in public. There is a solution to overcrowding.......
Goood morning , Crazies. SUre enough the first post was for immmediate execution (WIthout details of how, unfortunately) and before too long someone with a gay rape fixation chimed in. Yes the world is in perfect order again today.
Bin Laden was the most wanted fugitive...and we did a kill mission instead of capture. Things that make you go hermmm.
now,this guy is not a nice church going mexican,justice should be left to the families that he has killed a relative. why do we want to bring him here? let the people of mexico take justice as the chinese do! this guy is a ignorant thug whom has lived by violence and should die a swift death. do i care about due process for this animal,NO! he has proven what type of person he is and the life he lived by. i would not lose sleep if this thug life was cut short.
I agree . put a sack over his smiling head and put a bullet in it.
Being extradited from Mexico he won't face the death penalty. Subsequently the tax payers will be entertaining him in Club Fed for years. Great system of Justice we have!
We don't have a system of justice in this country. It is a legal system, as more often than not in cases such as this, true justice is not served. I say let him have his day in court. If and when he is found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, take him out back and shoot him. Save "We the people" (tax payers) some money for a change.
captn curtass:
You are correct in your assessment, however money is set aside years in advance for these budgets. As more corrections facilities become privatized, more money will be spent for warehousing as opposed to executions.
I can't be the only person that finds it strange that so many posters here clamor for immediate justice: No trial, just execute, but when that type of "justice" happens in another country these same people call them(executors) savages.
Not many Americans can jump across the border and join a drug cartel. Is this one of the hard working illegal immigrants just trying to make life better for his family? If he was a few years younger he would be eligible for the Dream Act.
That is what is wrong with our immigration policy. Illegals are allowed to live in the U.S. UNTIL they hurt an American. We are all potential victims and only AFTER you or your family member is hurt or killed will our govt move to jail or deport them (and then they cross the border again and hurt ANOTHER American) We are all paying for the illegals one way or another.
--- Saenz also is believed to have killed Oscar Torres at his home in suburban Whittier . . .
--- Authorities said they have videotape from a surveillance camera at Torres' house that shows Saenz killing Torres . . .
Looks to be me that with the authorities having videotape they'd be quite sure Saenz killed Torres, not just believe it.
@ Kornfed
The mission on Bin Laden was to capture him alive if possible, if not, kill him. He drew a weapon, they killed him. It was not a kill, assassinate mission.
@jw101
Perp was born in LA, according to the article. Want to hate him for something else?
at the end of the day what does being an immigrant have to do with any of this. as an american i dont consider myself above others because they are not from this country . the point is this man kidnapped raped and killed his own daughters mother, dispicable, and thats just to name a few things but many serial killers are american. lets all remember that before bringing up the border issue.
Naw, just throw the POS under the wheels of a tractor trailer on one of LA's freeways. Our justice system will spend a fortune that we taxpayers cannot afford on this worthless parasite.
Good job and a heartfelt "high-five" to the lawmen and women involved with the capture of this POS. Now if we can organize an international effort to round up the fathers of anchor babies and make'em pay up for their kids benefits here in the U.S. we'd have something. Put'em to work doing what the states use taxpayer's $$ on, clearing vacant lots, street cleaning, watering plants around Gov't buildings, building the equivalant of the "Great Wall of China" along the border between the Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico, etc.
@kornfed..We did a "kill" mission on a man that the rest of the world KNOWS died circa 2005
UnitedWeStand
Whoops.....got one out of 15 MILLION wrong.
Hard to tell who's legal and who's not since no one is checking any more.
yes especially since the white girl next to me is mexican
jw-001 you must be one of those people that walks around with a gun for fear of people that aren t like you. come to new york and experience different cultures. you ll probably get robbed by people you would never think would do that but you will also meet people of various backgrounds and know that it doesnt matter where one comes from, its the mentality of the person.
john doe-7340493
New York? ha ha ha - I'm from S Florida....come down here and I'll show YOU diversification. I have survived the Jamaican posse gangs, the Cuban Mariel boat lift, Haitians, Dominicans, Puerto Ricans and every other ethnic group that has invaded this area. Just because you have been brainwashed to be "PC" doesn't change the fact that certain cultures act in certain ways.
BTW, if you visit, you'd BETTER pack a gun, because our "diverse" citizens rob NY tourists like you for fun.
I like how jw101 has "survived" "the Haitians, Dominicans and Puerto Ricans and every other ethnic group that has invaded".......as if an ethnic group needs to be "survived" lmao at racism at it's worst!
where to begin. ive been to the above mentioned countries. try going to dominican republic. had to pay 100 dollars for a home made meal on the beach while being bothers by ten different merchants selling baubles. Ive been to florida. You can't even compare it. I live in JAMAICA, QUEENS, the CAPITAL OF IMMIGRATION. not to undermine what you ve been through. My son is part dominican and colombian. me being the latter. i suppose you call me an anchor baby. I had to speak like a jamaican when i got to highschool than like a west indian, guyana and trinidad, whom were colonised by dutch and brits, hence their funny english speech, and they are not all the different. you havent mentioned the albanians, russians, bangalis, sri lankens, pakistanis, indian punjabs which are still arriving, just go to the nearby corner store. the police force is italian and irish, but consider themselves white like my sister in law, the real minority.
filipinos chinese korean viets, oh no, wheres chuck norris?! im not going to bother mentioning haitians blacks and puertoricans which mesh together, puertorican women love black men for all the wrong reasons. dont understand it either, but i dont agree with your views. its called cultural diffusion. get over it.
plus being that im colombian you would assume my world is more dangerous than yours.
I don't think he's going to be "Joe Smiley" when he finds out what kind of "PEEnuts" he'll be getting in prison!
love this comment
in prison he will fit right in. prison today his not a big deal for people like him even if he gets life he will adapt to prison life and probably become a big shot so I agree take his life and spare the tax payers
hooah
He killed "gang members" for an assault on one of his "associates"???? Couldn't you sell "gang members" twice in the same sentence?? Sounds like he is a misunderstood in the eyes of the writer. I agree entirely with Johnnym75's view. Simple oxygen thief that needs recycled.
This man is just another proud product of California, the world's capitol of immorality, the nation's Sodom and Gomorrah.
California has been insolvent for the past 15 years despite 'creative accounting.' The reasons are obvious. High taxes, excessive regulations, and immorality among the populace have driving business and employment opportunity away from California. California has become the nation's cesspool where dead-beats, drug-heads, skin-heads, and gang-bangers are part of the lurid background ambience.
Are you saying you don't like California?
Troll.
California has a population of over 37 million people. And WallStFatCat makes a generalization based on just one of them. Can you say Right Wing Lunatic?
But a large part of these people vote in "lunies" like Pelosi, over and over. What does she and her chronies do for the deficit, NOTHING!
jim they can't since they read the other bills its the ones that have to be passed to know whats in them that pelosi backs
Yes, WallStFatCat, has generalized the State of CA - but not so sure about the "Right Wing Lunatic". But a LUNATIC indeed.
Not everyone in CA can be lumped into his very narrow, and limited, view point.
Renee - Northern CA:
All WallStFatCat would have done is change the name of the state that this happened in, regardles as to where it happened. People like him are in abundance on newsvine.
Joe Veteran:
You are correct. They say there is no future in being stupid - but some manage to disprove it, and on a daily basis.
Happy Holidays!
Your name says it all !! Wall St. fat ass !!
Never been to california but i just saw a new reporter doing her job in what looked like a foggy mist behind her. Is it really like that over there? I hear you can't see the sky clearly from the smog.
by the way im from ny and wall street people are nothing more than gamblers. put that money to better use.
I AM his Lawyer and I know he's insane!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Your talking about LA (drugs and gangs) San Diego is like another state. Dont blanket blame all of California. Every state has its good and bad
dont wastmoney we dont have to put him on trial shoot him while trying to excape.All you will do is put him in prison and we will have to feed him and keep him up for the rest of his life,we dont have the money to do that or maby put him in one of the big movie stars homes and let them keep him up you know the one the obama ssa kisser.
Why don't we call these "gangs" what they are: drug cartels? Why don't we grasp that drug cartels exist because of a lucrative black market, for which the demand is accentuated by the romance of doing something mommy and daddy don't want us to do? This is the biggest part of the problem- if drugs were legal or decriminalized, then the same stigma attached to being an alcoholic would be attributed to drug use. Because it's illegal, there is this "bad boy" aura around being a gang-banger/drug pusher/user that is inviting to some people.
The romance would disappear with legalization/decriminalization, and abuse would just be known for what it is- a PROBLEM needing rehabilitation. More importantly, thugs like this piece of human excrement wouldn't have a lucrative avenue for their criminal tendencies in the first place- there would have been no one spending money to protect his sorry a*s when he murdered someone. He'd have likely gone to prison A LONG TIME ago, at far less taxpayer expense.
Any of you folks that think he will suffer or even be unhappy in Prison.....WRONG....He will be just fine surrounded by his gang buddies....Terrorizing weaker inmates.....Playing Ball...and Lifting Weights all day....Except for the time he spends filling Grievances....And working on his Appeal....With FREE Legal Aid too..
Enjoying totally FREE MEDICAL CARE....No Copays or Deductibles...Totally Free Rx.....Getting his teeth fixed....And he probably will get that operation now too.He doesn't waste his time or money on that when he's on the street.....
Ironically....By definition....These people are the worst in our society....At least they were Adjudicated so by a Court of Law...with Due Process..Yet we insist that we cannot provide ..As a Society....Any of this to The good Law Abiding People?....
What a world.....
The reason that they receive "Free legal aid, and medical care" is because they become wards of the state/Federal system. These attorneys/doctors are being paid, and paid well for their services believe it.
Yes, these inmates become wards of the State / or Federal Government.
The prison system is not what you see in movies. You have people with no outlets. The medical care, while paid well by the agencies to the providers, is substandard. The option to a bad tooth is to pull it, not repair it.
I would be surprised if there are any weights left in the prisons. I know CA has removed them from our systems. The inmates were in far better shape than the guards. This posed a problem.
The families of these inmates support them as well. Any money provided by the inmate family / friends are used to buy envelopes, postage, personal care supplies, etc,. Any profit made off these supplies are put into the inmate welfare fund. Out of this fund comes the cost of repairs to the detention centers.
http://codes.lp.findlaw.com/cacode/PEN/3/3/4/1/s4025
Don't think their life is better than what you have out here. It is not. I have family member that works in this system. It is not all it is cracked up to be. So, as a taxpayer, don't be so quick to take all the credit for their support.
Renee, I don't know what charges he is facing, but I think that right now the federal authorities and the californian authorities may be weighing which of the 2 venues will bring in return the harsher sentence. For example, the federal system does not have a parole system, therefore you have to do your whole sentence. State system varies where it comes to parole and time reduction. And I think that federal contemplates capital punishment against cali, who doesn't.
after he's convicted of all these murders , one of them for sure will land him on death row. not unless he becomes an informant worth keeping around.
so he was on the most wanted list for taking care of our trash???give him a freakin medal first for doing the cops job for them by killing off the other gang members.then execute him for being psycho.lol.
WHO GIVES A FK about this guy? NBC.com CLOSES DISCUSSION ON LARRY HAGMAN PASSING AWAY AFTER TWO COMMENTS?!!!!
What's up with THAT?! Was it the part about his dying wish to be a 'marijuana cake?!" I LOVE THAT GUY! What this country needs is more people like Larry Hagman. I grew up with I dream of Jeanie and then Dallas. He was an ICON and won't soon be forgotten! I hope his dying wish comes true as I would definitely be all fired up to take a trip there and enjoy a piece of that cake in two years!!!!!!!!!
Dear WallStFatCat. I wish you would use some facts in your posts. California is not the crime capital of the U.S. By population, Tennessee has one of the highest murder rates in the country. Of course there are more murders in a state of 37 million than one of 10.
until this country stops crying over these thugs when sentenced we will have continue to have problems. people keep voting stupid people in too lead this country;you get what you vote for.
Well said, John Colorado - The FBI list of cities with the highest crime is Flint, Mich - Detroit, Mich - St. Louis, MO- Oakland, CA - Memphis, TN - Atlanta, GA - Birmingham, Ala - Little Rock, Ark. And lets not forget Chicago, Ill.
It is everywhere and not limited to CA.
This is what the government is doing with our tax money and this is how we are going broke. This is a total waste of our time and effort. This is a murderer who killed other gang members who were probably Illigals and on welfare. He actually did us a favor. Should have let him stay in Mexico where the Mexican government has to take care of him. This guy is going to cost us over 20 million dollars over the next 40 years . At minimum they should have shot him during the attempted arrest in Mexico. We really could have come out ahead, but no deal. We want to bring him back so the for profit prison system could scam us for ever and ever more.
The world over, as far as I'm concerned, there are no innate civil or human rights that exist for any person who is a violent religious terrorist or violent drug gang member in human society, and the only good ones are DEAD ones!
Regardless of their birth circumstances, once they premeditatedly cross that threshhold of civility for personal profit, power, or gain, they become a cancer to the rest of us and cease to be one of "God's children" - there is no remorse of any kind in theose people and they simply need to be eradicated every time we catch one of them for being the plague on humanity they are!
Like most of the posts here, I agree that this guy should be executed. But unlike most of the posts, I think it should be in a manner precribed by law. However, the LA County DA's office doesen't exactly have a stellar track record in the prosecution of high profile criminals ( remember OJ?). But even if he is convicted, the sentence will be life w/o any chance of seeing daylight again! So a state with already crushing financial burdens due to fiscal irresponsibility will tell its taxpayers to support this guy for the rest of his life! I'm glad he didn't commit his crimes in Illinois!!
I think he will be charged in the federal system...
Now instead of trying and executing him in a timely manner, the innocent taxpayers will be victimized some more as they are forced to pay enormous amounts of money to care for this man for the rest of his natural life while he orders more murders from behind prison walls.
I am curious as to what the real story is and who murdered who for what reasons. Another person fighting against organized crime framed for their sins?
Viva Arizona SB1070
That's not very friendly.
Sounds like someone has learned to use the dark side if the force to me.
This greasy spik can laugh all the way to the death chamber! Now who's laughing greasy gang banger loser? ME! Hahahahahahahaha aahhaha hhahahaaaaaaaaaaaaa
Walt and Jessi watch out, the FBI Caught this guy there coming after you guys next LOL 'Breaking Bad'
due prosses this,just wait till one of your family gets in front of a stray bullet and dies,because some gang member,wants to kill another,then you can take your liberal thinking and throw it out the window,an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth
What does "a reward of up to $100,000" mean? They can give the person who turns the criminal in whatever the want? Thanks. Here's 5 bucks?
When we have: Africa for Africans, Asia for Asians, White Countries for Everybody, what do we have overtime?
We have more and more non-whites in White countries since the right of Whites to exclusive territory is denied them.
We have fewer and fewer White people.
When we mix more non-whites and fewer Whites in the same living space, what do we get?
In time, White extinction. Its called White genocide because this does not happen by chance. It is being forced upon Whites just like a rapist does not take no for an answer.
How is this not so? How is this not White genocide?
Anti-racist is a codeword for anti-white.
@GCK-WYO
Our justice system is flawed to say the least. Let's have due process right? Throw the guy in jail, let him make countless appeals to avoid the death sentence and end up with life in prison. Not on my dime, you want to live and act like a rabid dog then you get put down like one...PERIOD!
U. S. plan to prevent further violence from Mexico: Keep the borders pourous. Give free medical, assist with food and housing. Provide free legal advice, like how to take advantage of America and its citizens. Provide free education to children who should not be here. Make all communication in spanish so they NEVER have to learn english. Grant amnesty as a reward for breaking the law. Forgive criminal acts such as driving without license, no insurance, identity theft, and of course illegally entering the country to begin with. Allow illegals to drive down jobs, pay and benefits for citizens.
Yeah, that should work (?)!