Shelby County Murders Part of Mexican Murder-For-Hire Organized Crime Plot

By Rod Carter
Morning/Midday Anchor
Published: August 26, 2008

Four suspects have been arrested in the murder of five men at a Highway 280-area apartment complex.

Three of the four suspects are illegal immigrants from Mexico, the other is from the Birmingham area. All four were arrested Sunday during traffic stops. Three arrests were made in Shelby County and one was in Jefferson County. All four men are charged with two counts of capital murder, one count for the killing of two or more people, the other for murder for hire.

Investigators said the crime is not gang related, but is related to organized crime. They also believe the murders were part of a much larger picture and there could have been more victims, had the arrests not been made.

The five Shelby County murder victims were all electrocuted and beaten before having their throats slashed,  investigators revealed at a Tuesday morning news conference.

A deputy found the five Hispanic men in a Shelby County apartment on Buckhorn Cove last week. Investigators said the men were killed inside Cahaba Lake apartments.
 
NBC 13 HD’s Jon Paepcke said investigators believe the case stems from a drug organization’s murder-for-hire plot due to over missing money that totaled somewhere between $400,000 and $450,000.

Investigators believe the five men were killed the Sunday prior to the discovery of their bodies.

The Shelby County District Attorney’s office said it’s the cleanest crime scene he had ever seen. He added the suspects went to very meticulous lengths to make sure they were never found.

Also today, the fourth of five victims discovered has been positively identified by the Shelby County Coroner’s Office as Angel Horacio Vega-Gonzalez, 23. His place of residence is still undetermined.

Three of the victims were previously identified and the fifth and final victim has been tentatively identified.  The Coroner’s Office is awaiting records to confirm his identity and as soon as positive identification has been made, the Sheriff’s office will release that information.

Here’s who they arrested:
Alejandros Castaneda, 31, of Birmingham, is charged with two counts of capital murder (Murder for Consideration and Murder of Two or More Persons).  He is being held without bond.

Juan Fransisco Castaneda, 25, of Birmingham, is charged with two counts of capital murder (Murder for Consideration and Murder of Two or More Persons).  He is being held without bond.

Jaime Duenas Rodriguez, 22, of San Antonio, Texas, is charged with two counts of capital murder (Murder for Consideration and Murder of Two or More Persons).  He is being held without bond.

Christopher Scott Jones, 40, of Birmingham, is charged with two counts of capital murder (Murder for Consideration and Murder of Two or More Persons).  He is being held without bond.

The sheriff’s office is still searching for more “people of interest.“