Home Phoenix Press Releases 2010 Extradited Mexican Man Guilty of First Degree Murder on Tohono O’odham Nation
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Extradited Mexican Man Guilty of First Degree Murder on Tohono O’odham Nation

U.S. Attorney’s Office June 15, 2010
  • District of Arizona (602) 514-7500

TUCSON—Victor Manuel Reza-Ramos, 49, a Mexican citizen who had been extradited from Mexico to stand trial, was found guilty of first degree murder by a federal jury in Tucson on Monday, June 14. The case was tried before United States District Court Judge Frank R. Zapata beginning on June 1. The defendant was remanded into custody after the verdict was announced. Sentencing is set before Judge Zapata on August 30, 2010.

The evidence at trial showed that on or about March 25, 2003, near Fresnal Canyon on the Tohono O’odham reservation, Reza-Ramos used a metal fireplace shovel and a six-pound rock to beat to death the victim, Jose L. Flores, a member of the Tohono O’odham Nation. Mr. Flores was the caretaker and a ranch hand for the Kisto Ranch, which is located 18 miles from the U.S./Mexico Border, and the defendant was an illegal alien who appears to have come across the ranch while traveling north. According to testimony, the defendant inflicted 60 separate injuries on the victim, most to the head and neck, and then dragged him to a small embankment and dumped him over the side. The defendant then threw large rocks on top of the body in an effort to hide it.

The jury found that the defendant had committed the murder as a part of his effort to steal a 1999 Chevrolet pick-up truck that was present at the ranch. There were no eyewitnesses to the crime, however the defendant left his palm print in the victim’s blood on the outside of the truck. DNA evidence was later procured which tied the defendant to the inside of the truck, the inside of the ranch house, and discarded clothes found at the scene that were soaked in the victim’s blood.

A conviction for first degree murder carries a mandatory term of life imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, or both. In determining an actual sentence, Judge Zapata will consult the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, which provide appropriate sentencing ranges. The judge, however, is not bound by those guidelines in determining a sentence.

The investigation leading to the guilty verdict was conducted by the FBI and the Tohono O’odham Police Department. The prosecution was handled by Wallace H. Kleindienst and Gordon E. Davenport III, Assistant U.S. Attorneys, District of Arizona, Tucson.

CASE NUMBER: CR-06-1142
RELEASE NUMBER: 2010-126(Reza-Ramos)

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