***UPDATE BELOW***
From The Birmingham News:
Four men were charged with capital murder Monday in connection with the slayings of five men found dead in a north Shelby County apartment nearly a week ago.
Charged are Alejandros Castaneda, 31, of Birmingham; Juan Fransisco Castaneda, 25, of Birmingham; Jaime Duenas Rodriguez, 22, of San Antonio; and Christopher Scott Jones, 40, of Birmingham.
Each faces two counts of capital murder - murder for consideration and murder of two or more persons. All are in the Shelby County Jail under no bond.
The arrests were made in the Center Point area of Birmingham:
The Sheriff's Office announced the arrests after executing four search warrants in the Center Point area Monday, with the assistance of other local, state and federal investigators. The warrants were executed at the following locations:
A residence in the 1800 block of Centerbrook Lane.
A residence in the 100 block of Foxhill Court NW.
Castaneda's Tire.
People's Choice Barber Shop.
The Sheriff's Department said that, with the help of others, it was able to identify suspects and a motive for the slayings. Capt. Ken Burchfield declined to discuss that motive, saying the Sheriff's Department has a news conference scheduled for 9 this morning in Columbiana.
Two "persons of interest" are still being sought.
One of the victims, Armando Lopez, "listed in court records as a transient", had been arrested in Jefferson County June 1st, on a drug-trafficking charge. "Court records also show that Lopez pleaded guilty in Marshall County on May 15 to speeding, having no insurance and driving without a license". At the time of his arrest in June, his address was listed in the 4400 block of Bessemer Super Highway. Lopez covered quite a lot of territory, he was a "transient" after all.
I suspect authorities got help from the Hispanic community in Shelby, and possibly Jefferson County. This is good news for the area. If these thugs know they will be aggressively sought and that the Hispanic community will assist, maybe they will think twice about committing such heinous crimes here and move on.
Previous post here.
***UPDATE 10:42PM***
Victims were beaten, electrocuted over drugs:
The five men found with their throats slashed at an Inverness apartment were killed after a drug deal went bad, Sheriff Chris Curry said.
Police discovered five Hispanic men dead Aug. 20 at Cahaba Lakes apartments, off U.S. 280 behind Home Depot.
The men’s throats were slashed, and they were bound with tape.
District Attorney Robby Owens said the men had been beaten and electrocuted.
The killings were a murder for hire over more than $400,000 in drug money,Curry said.
All five victims were illegal aliens "possibly from Mexico".
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