A judge in California expressed his disbelief at a crime case that landed in his court, saying he could not "understand" the murder of five people, three of them children, by two half-brothers immersed in a dispute over properties in Mexico.
The judge sentenced Christopher Baltezar Hernandez and Victor Armondo Aguilar to six consecutive life terms and 45 years in prison, respectively, for the crimes, which took place in the Mexican city of Tijuana.
Both pleaded guilty in 2023 to a single count of conspiring to murder an American citizen in a foreign country and five counts of stalking resulting in death. All people involved but one were U.S. citizens.
"I cannot understand how one can point a gun in front of a child's face and pull the trigger," said U.S. District Judge Linda Lopez during the sentencing hearing. She went on to describe the crimes as "horrific," "completely incomprehensible" and "cold, intentional, planned, calculated and callous."
Hernandez and Aguilar killed their sister, her three children and her significant other in their home. It wasn't the first time Hernandez threatened his sister. She had already called 911 in 2019, saying he was threatening to shoot her and her children.
He had also sent an ominous text to his sister after she hired an attorney to help with the property dispute. "We already know about the lawyer," he said. "You think you can f--- us over and nothing will happen?"
In December he and his half-brother followed through with the threats after "months of meticulous and obsessive planning and premeditation" that involved Aguilar searching for a podcast related to homicide investigations. They met in Tijuana with several guns, including an assault rifle.
They went in the house with the "firearms and wearing dark clothes and gloves." "The defendants first shot and killed the sister and her eight-year-old daughter in the kitchen. The significant other was shot and killed in a bedroom while he attempted to shield the other two children. The bedroom door was forced open and nine-year-old A.M. and four-year-old S.M. were each shot in the head," reads a description of the crime by the Justice Department.
FBI San Diego Special Agent in Charge Stacey Moy described the crimes as ones fueled by "jealousy and greed," adding that the criminals' "well-deserved prison sentences reflect their total disregard for human life." While their imprisonment will never bring back these lives, we hope it offers some peace to the victims' family," adds the statement by the Department of Justice.
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