MS-13 suspects arrested in Florida cold case murders
Former FBI special agent Nicole Parker joins ‘Fox News Live’ to break down the arrests of suspected MS-13 members in connection with Florida cold case murders and Attorney General Pam Bondi’s vow to intensify the fight against gang violence.
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Three alleged MS-13 gang members went on a deadly “hunting” spree across California and Nevada, targeting victims in a string of brutal killings meant to boost their status inside the notorious gang, federal prosecutors said as the trial got underway this week.
The defendants, Jose Luis Reynaldo Reyes-Castillo, David Arturo Perez-Manchame and Joel Vargas-Escobar, are facing a 34-count federal indictment that includes murder, attempted murder and kidnapping in aid of racketeering, along with weapons charges tied to at least 11 killings.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Nevada, the men, identified as alleged MS-13 members and associates, are also charged with using firearms during crimes of violence, causing death with a firearm and aiding and abetting, in what prosecutors describe as a racketeering case tied to a series of killings across California and Nevada.
The trial, unfolding in federal court in Las Vegas before U.S. District Judge Gloria M. Navarro, is expected to last up to three months.
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An MS-13 gang member shows off his gang tattoos and MS-13 hand signs in Durham, North Carolina. (Getty Images)
During opening statements, prosecutors described what they said was a years-long pattern of extreme violence, with victims allegedly targeted based on little more than suspected ties to rival gang members.
According to reporting from the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Assistant U.S. Attorney Melanee Smith told jurors the attacks were often random and carried out to build reputation within MS-13.
“They went out hunting, looking for people they could kill,” Smith said.
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Roughly two dozen accused members of the violent MS-13 gang were arrested as federal and local investigators forced their way into homes across Los Angeles County in a sweep that came as a result of a two-year racketeering investigation. (Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
Prosecutors detailed multiple killings, including the death of 19-year-old Abel Rodriguez, who was stabbed so many times he was left unrecognizable, and Izaak Towery, who was abducted and stabbed 235 times after being mistakenly identified as a rival gang member.
“Towery had no idea what was going on,” Smith told jurors.
Authorities allege the violence was intended to elevate the defendants’ standing within MS-13, also known as La Mara Salvatrucha, a transnational gang that originated in Los Angeles and now operates across the United States and Central America.
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Court filings describe MS-13 as a structured criminal enterprise where violence was the path to power, and members were expected to carry out killings to rise through the gang’s ranks.
One of the cases tied to the defendants dates back to 2018, when 21-year-old Arquimidez Sandoval-Martinez was abducted from a Las Vegas nightclub. According to court records, he was bound with shoelaces, driven into the desert and killed. His body was found nearly two weeks later on federal land outside the city.
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The FBI led the investigation, which began with arrests in 2018 after agents reported finding multiple weapons, including handguns and a large knife, in a vehicle linked to the suspects.
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Defense attorneys pushed back sharply, focusing on the credibility of cooperating witnesses expected to testify for the government.
Richard Wright, who represents Reyes-Castillo, warned jurors those witnesses have strong incentives to lie in exchange for reduced sentences.
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“The more you squeal, the better the deal,” Wright said.
Inmates remain in a cell at the Counter-Terrorism Confinement Centre (CECOT) mega-prison, where hundreds of members of the MS-13 and 18 Street gangs are being held, in Tecoluca, El Salvador on Jan. 27, 2025. (MARVIN RECINOS/AFP via Getty Images)
Attorneys for the other defendants echoed that argument, portraying the case as heavily reliant on testimony from insiders seeking leniency rather than independent evidence.
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Prosecutors, however, have argued those accounts will be backed up by physical evidence, including DNA and ballistics.
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The case comes as federal authorities continue a broader crackdown on MS-13.
On March 10, the FBI arrested a suspected gang member in Connecticut who was wanted in El Salvador for the killing of a pastor. Investigators said he was the subject of an international homicide alert before being taken into custody and turned over to immigration authorities.
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Federal officials say cases like this trial are part of a broader effort to dismantle MS-13 networks operating across the United States.
Fox News Digital’s Landon Mion contributed to this report.
Stepheny Price covers crime, including missing persons, homicides and migrant crime. Send story tips to stepheny.price@fox.com.