Recently in Cold-case murders Category

BY MIKE CETERA

Angel "Doc" Luciano was a handyman and landlord who left the gang life behind. Or he was the "head lion" of a dangerous street gang who trained and poisoned the minds of his little cubs. Or he was both.

No matter what Luciano did after the murder of Willie Arce, he must go to prison to balance the scales of justice. This was the message handed down to the 56-year-old Aurora man on Tuesday as he was sentenced to 38 years in prison for the 1989 murder.

The question remains: Was justice served?

BY MIKE CETERA

You have to imagine police and prosecutors would have been pretty nervous had a jury found Angel "Doc" Luciano not guilty of murder. After all, they had already lost one of the cold-case trials to an acquittal. But Luciano, the reputed head of Aurora's Latin Kings, was found guilty Thursday by a jury.

What made this case different from the prosecution of George Torres?

BY DAVE PARRO

Aurora police and Kane County prosecutors were dealt a huge blow Wednesday afternoon when their first cold-case murder trial related to the June gang sweep ended in an acquittal.

It took the jury only two hours to decide that George Torres didn't kill Fernando Dieppa in 1997, or at least that there wasn't enough evidence to prove it. There are still 30 defendants awaiting trial in 22 old murders, but this isn't a good start.

Maybe Operation First Degree Burn isn't going to be a "death blow" to the Latin Kings after all.

BY MIKE CETERA

Defense attorneys aren't likely to garner any sympathy over cries that cops are reading their clients' mail. But Kathleen Colton's objection during the first cold-case murder trial about revelations the Kane County Jail has been opening mail for years raises some interesting questions.

Is it legal for jail guards to pilfer inmates' letters? Is there an expectation of privacy among inmates? Should law-abiding citizens care either way?

Here's what Colton had to say about her client, Jose Salinas: "I don't know how much more obvious this could be that this violates Mr. Salinas' rights. You don't give up your rights when you're incarcerated."

Here's what Kane County Sheriff's Office Lt. Pat Gengler said: "By virtue of being in custody they give up certain things. If they don't want to have their phone calls listened to, their mail opened, their visits monitored, they should make a different choice in life."

BY MIKE CETERA

Aurora resident Al Signorelli asks an important, if somewhat loaded, question in comparing the response to Planned Parenthood's new clinic with how the community responds to violence: When will residents show the same passion and become outraged when a young man or woman is slain?

From Signorelli's call to OpenLine:

While (abortion) always elicits passion on both sides, it totally amazes me that crime and violence, our safety, and most importantly that of our children, does not. Where are the protesters when the bullets are flying and people are killed on our streets? What about those lives? Where is the outrage?

BY DAVE PARRO

Despite some conflicting testimony, shady witnesses, and no murder weapon or physical evidence, a Kane County jury this afternoon delivered a guilty verdict in the first of Aurora's cold-case murders.

The conviction of Jose Salinas in a 2000 gang shooting bodes well for prosecutors, who still have the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt in 22 other old murder cases still on the docket. They will have the same difficult task in convicting the other 31 suspects as they did with Salinas just because of the nature of cold cases.

Each jury will obviously be different, but this verdict should give prosecutors and the Aurora Police Department confidence as they prepare for the other cases and make even more arrests.

BY MIKE CETERA

He once threatened violence against police, but for years now he's been working for them. He once held the titles "enforcer" and "terminator" as a member of an Aurora street gang. Now he goes by the less menacing title of "informant."

Orlando Rivera is no angel. Yet he's one of the men helping law enforcement officials seek to close long cold murder cases in Aurora. This week he testified for the prosecution in a murder case from 2000.

Make no mistake, Rivera isn't doing this simply because he's had a change of heart about being a gang member. Court records show authorities have forgiven past crimes and have paid him handsomely for his services.

Rivera is a clear example of the type of people police need to cultivate to make a case in gang crimes. It's a game cops must play with caution.

BY DAVE PARRO

The first of dozens of Aurora cold-case murder trials starts today, which will be fascinating to watch because of its potential implications for prosecuting the other 31 suspects rounded up earlier this summer.

Jose Salinas wasn't arrested in the huge sweep at the end of June, but rather was charged in March with the 2000 shooting of Luis Donatlan. The charges were the first to come out of the formation of the Cold Case Task Force, which is now responsible for arrests in 23 previously unsolved murders (and counting).

The outcome of the Salinas trial could predict how successful prosecutors will be in the other cases. It will also provide insight into how police went about piecing together evidence in killings dating back as far as two decades.

BY MIKE CETERA

The gang problem is overblown. Communities aren't doing enough to support their children. Gang busts don't decrease crime.

These are three of the conclusions formed in a new report by a Washington think tank. Some cops dismiss the report by the Justice Policy Institute, claiming it was written by "thug-huggers."

HEATHER EIDSON / BEACON NEWS
The relatives of murder victims aren't the only ones whose families
have been ripped apart by gangs.

BY DAVE PARRO

It's easy to feel compassion for the relatives of murder victims who waited as many as 18 years for the alleged killers to be caught after their families were violently ripped apart by gangs. But something that might be overlooked or ignored is the fact that each of the 28 Latin Kings arrested last week in almost two dozen cold-case murders is also a husband, father, brother or son.

Some of them might have turned their lives around since committing the crime. Many are now married with children. Unfortunately for their families, murder rightfully doesn't have a statute of limitations. While gang members don't deserve any sympathy, the devastating ripple effect of their actions on family and friends -- and the community -- is undeniable.

Relatives on both sides of last week's arrests have been sharing their thoughts on the Beacon Blog. To see the previous posts on this story and the comments, go to the page devoted to this issue.