UPDATE: Ponce, Rafael Arraignment Postponed for 2008 Homeless Encampment Killings
- Details
- By Staff Reports
- | Thursday, 02 February 2012 05:50
2:17pm | The Press-Telegram is reporting that the arraignment of David Cruz Ponce and Max Eliseo Rafael has been postponed to allow for special defense council to be assigned in the capital murder case. The defendants did not enter a plea.
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Suspects David Cruz Ponce, 31, and Max Eliseo Rafael, 25
January 19, 7:20pm |
The Long Beach Police Department has announced that charges have been filed by the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office, against two suspects for the murder of five individuals at a homeless encampment in 2008.
On Sunday, November 2, 2008, Long Beach police officers were dispatched to the area of Santa Fe Avenue and Wardlow Road regarding a 9-1-1 call where the caller stated that someone had been killed. Officers from the Long Beach Police Department, with the assistance of the California Highway Patrol, searched the thick brush in the area near the Santa Fe Avenue off-ramp of the 405 Freeway. There they discovered the bodies of five deceased individuals that had been shot multiple times in a homeless encampment that contained numerous tents, carpeting, a tarp roof, and other things that made it their home.
The five victims were identified by the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office as Vanessa Malaepule, 34, of Carson, Jose Lorenzo Villicana, 44, Katherine Lynn Verdun, 24, Frederick Doyle Neumeier, 53, of Long Beach, and Hamid Shraifat, 41, of Signal Hill.
Long Beach Police Department Homicide Detectives Mark McGuire and Hugo Cortes were assigned this case and began investigating the incident. Due to the isolated encampment, the task of finding witnesses to the incident was difficult. With the assistance of detectives from the Long Beach Police Department’s Career Criminal Apprehension Team (C-CAT), detectives scoured the area contacting potential witnesses. Additionally, detectives worked with the City’s homeless program to identify potential witnesses they may come into contact with.
All of these efforts paid off for detectives who were able to recreate each of the victim’s backgrounds to identify known associates through interviews. Within a few weeks of the murders, homicide detectives had identified an unreported incident where Victim Villicana was robbed and assaulted a week prior to the murder by suspect David Ponce, 31, of Lancaster.
On November 21, 2008, Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, at the request of Fourth District Supervisor Don Knabe, offered a $20,000 reward for information relating to this investigation.
Over the course of the last 3 years, detectives continued to investigate the robbery and the potential relation to the murders. Detectives were able to establish that there was an ongoing dispute between Victim Villicana and Suspect Ponce, who is a documented gang-member. Detectives believe that this ongoing dispute over a narcotics debt resulted in Suspect Ponce plotting the murder of Victim Villicana, which included him recruiting an additional suspect to assist him. That additional suspect, a documented gang-member of the same gang, is identified as, Max Rafael, 25, of Los Angeles.
The investigation revealed that on the day of the murders, Suspects Ponce and Rafael accosted Victim Shraifat while looking for the encampment. At gunpoint, they forced Shraifat to take them to the encampment where Victim Villicana lived. Once at the encampment, Villicana was murdered. The four other victims were also executed to ensure there were no witnesses to the crime.
Due to the nature of the crimes, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office assigned Special Deputy District Attorney (DDA) Eric Harmon from the Major Crimes Unit to this case. On January 18, 2012, DDA Harmon filed charges that included murder, kidnapping conspiracy and possession of a firearm by a felon with gun and gang allegations against Suspects Ponce and Rafael.
Suspect Ponce was arrested by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LASD) in August of 2010 and Suspect Rafael was also arrested by LASD in June of 2011, both for ex-felon with a firearm. The Long Beach Police Department would like to thank the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Homicide and Major Crimes Units for their assistance in making these arrests.
During the course of this investigation, homicide detectives have identified at least three additional murders for which Suspect Ponce may be responsible. Two of these crimes occurred in the downtown area of Long Beach and are still under investigation. The third occurred in the City of Lancaster and was investigated by Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Homicide. The Sheriff’s Department presented this case to DDA Harmon who filed an additional count of murder against David Ponce. Detectives believe that Suspect Rafael may also be involved in additional murders in Los Angeles County. Both of their photos are being released hoping that someone may recognize them for their involvement and will come forward.
Anyone who may have any additional information regarding the unsolved murders should contact Long Beach Police Homicide Detectives Mark McGuire and Hugo Cortes at (562) 570-7244. Anonymous tips may be submitted via text or web by visiting www.tipsoft.com.
(From left to right) Victims Vanessa Malaepule, 34, Jose Lorenzo Villicana, 44,
Katherine Lynn Verdun, 24,
Frederick Doyle Neumeier, 53, and
Hamid Shraifat, 41
4:52pm |
Los Angeles County Supervisor Don Knabe released a statement following the arrest of two men involved in the murder of five people, four of whom were homeless, in the City of Long Beach at a homeless encampment on November 2, 2008:
4:30 | The Press-Telegram is reporting that David Cruz Ponce, 31, and Max Eliseo Rafael, 25, two alleged members of a Watts street gang were charged today with the 2008 shooting deaths of five homeless people killed in an encampment near the San Diego (405) freeway.“I am proud of the diligent investigation conducted by the Long Beach Police Department, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office that ultimately brought the suspects behind this heinous crime to justice,” said Supervisor Knabe. “This was a gruesome crime that took the lives of some of the most vulnerable members of our community and the County of Los Angeles will not stand for such a deplorable act. The City of Long Beach is safer with these men behind bars.”
On November 2, 2008, a quintuple murder occurred in the City of Long Beach in a homeless encampment. The investigation started with an anonymous caller who reported the crime. The caller gave a brief description of the location which led California Highway Patrol officers to the crime scene. Arriving officers found 5 people dead from gun shot wounds inside of a homeless encampment along the south bound side of the 405 freeway at the Santa Fe Avenue off-ramp. The suspects are believed to also be involved in other murders across Los Angeles County. A $20,000 reward was offered by Supervisor Knabe in 2008 for information related to the shooting.
Ponce and Rafael were each charged with five special circumstance murders in the case, said Deputy District Attorney Eric Harmon.
Click here to read the whole story.
12:00pm | The Long Beach Police Department has announced that arrests have been made in relation to the murders of five individuals at a homeless encampment near the Santa Fe Avenue offramp of the 405 Freeway, on November 2, 2008.
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Oh, and these two seem like a very high level sort of evil.
P.S. They look like your typical lowlife gangsters you see all over Long Beach. Discrimination or not, they should've locked up BOTH of them a long time ago just for the way they look. You think a guy with a face tattoo is going to go out and be a bank teller or retail clerk (or some other honest profession) to earn his money? Hell no. More likely he'll rob people or sell drugs.
These two support an argument for speedy, public execution, wild west style.
Build a scaffold in front of City Hall, assemble the media and Hang Them High
In fact, they need to round up all of those teenage kids that are hanging around with the gang members and are at risk of joining gangs themselves... put them front row, center... and let them watch these guys HANG up close and personal. So they can see how they'll end up if they continue with their gangster lifestyle.
We are way too lenient on punishment nowadays. Someone can murder dozens of people and leave dozens of families broken, yet they'll sit in jail for years before their trial... and even if they get the death penalty, they'll sit on death row another 25+ years before they're finally executed. Which is 25 more years of life than they allowed their victims.
Wake up Long Beach, if you want to have a middle class town, you need to chase out those who don't fit that demographic, not welcome them with housing, programs and places to gather.
The gangs are here because we let them be here. We've let them wreck out beach side community for reasons that make no sense at all.
Long Beach needs revenue, and fish need feeding, right? We have a shark tank at the Aquarium of the Pacific, it needs revenue? They love fresh meat?
Law abiding citizens like to see criminals brought to justice?
These two are sick, sadistic, cold blooded killers had no conscience or a grain of compassion, send them out just the way that they lived..
Violently...with absolute disrespect?
The Aquarium of the Pacific needs a new exhibit, you can hear the commercials now; Our new Feeding murderers to the sharks week? On Fox
We could strap the condemned into hiking harnesses and rig ropes over the tanks. We could then let the grieving victims relatives lower them slowly, naked, into the tank of swirling, hungry sharks.
Let them face the crowd while about waist high at first.
Affix a belt of feeder or bait fish around their waist to get the sharks biting and biting in the general mid section area. Allow the sharks to snack for as long as they like and until, well, both murderers resemble a Ken doll, anatomically.
Make sure that their cries, screams and lamentations are well broadcast.
We could charge admission far in excess of say, an ultimate fighting exhibition, say $500 a pop?
1000 tickets grosses $500,000
Stream the video later? Pay per view ?
Net revenue, $1,000,000 easy. Imagine all of the Cops that we could hire? We might re open the academy?
Free video feed for local schools... must see TV for all at risk youths.
You want young want to be thugs to spend weeks in shock, covering up their bits at the slightest sound. They should see this and run around town terribly upset while recalling;''Those two gang hit men got fed to the sharks alive! The loco sharks bit their,bleep and bleep off !!''
This might turn many an impressionable life away from crime?
It would be hilarious
''Visit The Aquarium of The Pacific''
''Where our sharks are fat and happy and the neighborhoods far less infested with vermin and cockroaches?''
This is no less Cruel and Unusual than these 2 rotten scum bags shooting unarmed , defenseless mothers, fathers and children to live up to Gang rules.
Alas, who are we kidding, this is California. We treat convicted Felons far better than the poor, homeless, mentally ill or unemployed.. The worst of us get free medical, a free roof, 3 squares and never have to work again. We warehouse them to multiply.
How about speedy trails, fast tracked,limited appeals and frequent lethal injectons again? One a week? Televised but with more theatrics and drama.
The sharks deserve a Box Lunch
The Aquarium runs those commercials with a jingle...we can modify it.
It's Fun
It's Terrific !
It's the Aquarium of the
HORRIFIC.
We'd make National news for sure...and the Thugs would leave the town en masse....wonderful...
Thanks to the PD for finding these parasites and for not giving up.
And while leftists have zero tolerance for so many things, they will put up with these types of issues, in order to worship their left-wing religion, and consider it the cost of doing business.
This is what kills me about this leftist city, and leftists in general. They will kick and scream about the economy and bad conditions, when attempting to place blame on Bush.... but when the result of obviously looney left-wing policies result in murders and other disaster (Solyndra anyone?), they all the sudden have infinite patience, and are willing to make jokes.
As long as people are worshipping this left-wing ideology, we will continue to suffer. Some of us will lose our very lives.
You get so outraged looking at these idiots that we have been dreaming up ways to punish them in a memorable way. This is gross but funny and highly effective.
The Shark Tank idea is great, 'Neuter the shark' sounds brilliant. Hope that he is hungry.
So is the gallows idea downtown. Sounds good; Hang Em High! We'll sponsor the rope.
But before all of this, they deserve a nice 'Log Ride.'
How about we hand cuff them about waist high, in the bottom of two well used, full portable toilets, stewing right in the juice, day and night, during an October fest or something?
For all 3 weeks maybe? Televised with tours by at risk youths.
Their heads have to be directly under the hole too?
And feed the crowd a bunch of bad cabbage rolls,tainted brautwurst,spoiled chili and rotten eggs maybe?
Bombs away !
And as the kids view the events, have the adults warn them...''If you don't behave, you'll end up in the log ride''
These guys are disgusting, they deserve a disgusting punishment. This is pretty bad. Sorry.
But it is not too expensive, it has high shock value, it uses a renewable resource and the many other gang guys might fly right or even join a seminary.
The one Jerk has NUT HOUSE tattoed on his face, let's change it to Butt House.
Incoming !
We support sentencing these guys to await trial, in the Jailhouse Jacuzzi Port O Potty Detention Schtank Tub !
Good work Police, these monsters are scum. Thanks for taking these rats off of the street.
Their family must be so so proud?
At a minimum, we need to re open the Gas Chamber and start executing again. 3 years of appeals max, and then Adios .
Log ride, think about it. It's a great deterrent.
Can we sign a petition? Sponsor a bill?
These guys deserve years in a Septic Tank Jacuzzi !
After the log ride and before the Shark dip? Seeing these guys makes me sick ! They cannot be human.
May they be a curse upon their family and friends for generations, just as they are to our town.
Public Beheading? That was big during the days of the Kings and Queens? We had a lot less crime back then,to heck with this cruel and unusual standard.
If you do a cruel and unusual crime, like execute 5 defenseless people, you qualify for special disposition.
We can call it a Middle Ages sentencing enhancement.
Just saw one of those swords appraised on Antiques Road Show? Cheap.
Swift Justice might be a community positive?
Back then when the King got upset he would yell; Heads will roll !
Let them roll again. These guys are disgusting. Truly the dregs.
Seeing their faces every day makes you mad all over !