Juy 15, 2000

OXFORD, Fla. -- Convicted serial killer Angel Maturino Resendiz led authorities Saturday to the skeletal remains of a teen-age girl, a day after admitting to authorities he killed her and her traveling companion three years ago. (External link)

USDOJ/OIG Special Report

The Rafael
Resendez-Ramirez Case:

A Review of the INS's Actions and the Operation of

Its IDENT Automated Fingerprint Identification System

Discussed on the American Patrol Report radio show on August 6, 2000

January 14, 2000, 9:32 a.m. ET

Suspected railroad killer drops request for change of venue

HOUSTON (AP) - Angel Maturino Resendiz, suspected in the deaths of nine people while he was riding freight trains across the country, dropped a request Thursday to have his murder trial moved from Houston, saying he did not want to risk facing a jury composed of "rednecks and Germans."

March 8, 2000

(External link.)

Filed at 7:22 a.m. EST

By The Associated Press

HOUSTON (AP) -- Prosecutors say they will seek the death penalty against accused rail - riding serial killer Angel Maturino Resendiz, after he refused to undergo an exam with a court-appointed psychiatrist.

May 18, 2000

(External link.)

HOUSTON (Reuters) -- A rail-hopping Mexican drifter who confessed to being a serial killer but pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity was convicted of capital murder Thursday for the December 1998 death of a Houston physician.

May 22, 2000

The admitted railroad killer who made the FBI's 10 Most Wanted List was sentenced to death Monday for killing a Houston- area doctor, one of nine murders he was accused of committing.

IN CUSTODY
June 13, :29 AM PDT

'Railway Killer' suspect surrenders in Texas

Resendez-Ramirez, 38, turned himself in after relatives -- who had knowledge of his whereabouts -- contacted authorities who then began secret negotiations to win the suspect's surrender.

:09 PM EST

Sister brokers Texas surrender of 'Railway Killer' suspect

"Mission accomplished," said Don Clark, the Houston-based FBI agent in charge of the investigation. He thanked "the American public for being so responsive to our pleas and requests for assistance in this investigation."

:06 PM EDT

President salutes law enforcers for capture of railroad suspect

``As a result of their determined efforts and the cooperation of Mexican authorities, the suspect is now in custody in the United States,'' the president said.

9/7/99

Resendiz asks to represent himself at trial

Maturino Resendiz made the request to state District Judge Bill Harmon during an unscheduled appearance, which was hastily brought together after the judge received a pair of letters from the suspect asking permission to represent himself.

7/9/99

Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua

RAILWAY FUGITIVE MAY HAVE KILLED IN MEXICO

Suspected serial killer Rafael Resendez-Ramirez, who is wanted in connection with eight slayings in the United States, may be responsible for as many as 15 homicides here, authorities said today.

7-10-99

Police look into alleged sightings

Assistant Police Chief Fructuoso San Miguel said Friday that in the last 48 hours, the police department had received four calls of possible Resendez sightings.

7-11-99

A borderline cop shop?

Two days after he was released, Ramirez allegedly slipped back across the border, and over the next two weeks allegedly killed four more people in Texas and Illinois; eventually, police would tie him to eight murders.

July 13, 1999 -- Updated 11:42 a.m. EDT, 1542 GMT (8:42 AM PDT) -- Rafael Resendez-Ramirez, the rail-riding fugitive suspected of killing at least eight people, has surrendered to U.S. authorities along the Mexican border and was to be brought to Houston later in the day, sources told CNN on Tuesday. He apparently surrendered at the INS checkpoint in El Paso, Texas, and is being processed there before being flown to Houston. Details to follow later. -WVCT 8:48 AM PDT

7-6-99

187 deaths now linked to `Railway Killer'

...It raises the possibility that police could be tracking the biggest serial killer in North American history.

7-7-99

BUCHANAN BLAMES ILLEGAL ALIENS

"Here's a character (Resendez-Ramirez) that's gone back and forth across the American border, illegally, for 23 years. He's believed to have murdered eight Americans. He's been held by the (U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service) and border patrol and let go because there's no coordination," Buchanan said.

7-7-99

Jewelry links Resendez-Ramirez to Houston slaying

Thirteen of 93 pieces surrendered last month by Resendez-Ramirez's common-law wife have been positively identified by relatives of slain Houston schoolteacher Noemi Dominguez, Houston police Lt. Ron Walker said.

 7-8-99

INS OFFERS LENIENCY IN SERIAL-KILLER PROBE

The Immigration and Naturalization Service is offering leniency to illegal aliens who help authorities nab suspected serial killer Rafael Resendez-Ramirez, officials said today.

7-6-99

Man resembling fugitive seen near NM rails, two report

Two people, including a National Park Service ranger, reported seeing a man resembling the so-called Railroad Killer suspect near a New Mexico rail line Monday.

7-3-99

Railway Killer & The INS

INS INCOMPETENCE BLAMED ON COMPUTER

"The brutality of the crimes linked to this suspect is unimaginable," Rep. Hal Rogers, R-Ky., wrote in a letter to Attorney General Janet Reno, who oversees the INS. "That the INS would allow a man suspected of such brutality to circulate back onto the streets of the United States, Mexico -- or anywhere else in the world for that matter -- is deplorable."

7-2-99

Lamar Smith Riles Reconquistas

TIGHTER BORDER CONTROLS MAKES MEXICO NERVOUS

''You get nine get-out-of-jail free passes before you are deported,'' said Lamar, who said he wants the INS to increase its deportations.

7-1-99

Matt Maggio

RAFAEL RESENDEZ-RAMIREZ
Psycho or terrorist?

"He's reached a level here where he's nothing. He's been a big loser; nobody wants anything to do with him."

7-1-99 - Philly Inquirer

More on Mexican Illegal Alien Serial Killer

Resendez-Ramirez in custody 9 times

"There's no good explanation on the part of INS or the Department of Justice unless we have an agency that doesn't work or doesn't care," said Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, chairman of the House immigration subcommittee. "How many more Ramirez' are out there?"

7-1-99

Washington

INS' serial killer suspect handling to be investigated

"The Clinton administration wants the FBI to check the background of every law-abiding sportsman buying a hunting rifle in the United States," [Lamar] Smith said. "Why can't it also make the INS and the FBI check the criminal records of anyone who is arrested after entering the United States illegally?

6-30-99

Mexican Illegal Immigrant Serial Killer Update

Border Patrol steps up search

Agents used dogs and helicopters to root out undocumented immigrants sneaking aboard freight trains headed north from this city, the busiest commercial crossing point on the U.S.-Mexico border.

Houston, Texas

Items seized could aid railway killings probe

6-29-99

Harlingen, Texas

Rail inspections stepped up in Jesse James-style search for killer

Law officers and railroad police are stopping trains and searching boxcars in a Wild West-style manhunt for Rafael Resendez-Ramirez, the tattooed ex-convict wanted in eight slayings along the tracks.

6-29-99 - Rodeo, Durango, Mexico

Killer Makes Mexican Town a Target

``It feels very ugly because he's a hometown boy,'' said Margarita Rodriguez Campo, director of the Catholic school where Reyes briefly taught English to grade-school and high-school students.

6-29-99 - Mexican Illegal Alien Serial Killer

The Faces of a Fugitive

...The worst-case scenario, of course, is that there will be another railroad murder and that the combined forces of the FBI and all the state and local cops will still be unable to nab the suspect.

6-28-99 - Houston

While Mexican Killer Runs Loose, INS 'Scrutinizes Procedures'

But officials are unsure of what changes are needed or can be made to prevent another missed opportunity. The Houston Chronicle today quotes INS spokesman Tomas Zuniga as saying: "At the time he was apprehended, we had no idea that he was wanted by the FBI. He was operating under another alias."

 6-28-99 - Breaking News - 12:35 PM PST

ILLEGAL ALIEN MEXICAN SERIAL KILLER LINKED TO TEN MORE MURDERS IN U.S.

6-27-99

Resendez-Ramirez - Courtesy of a Loose Border

6-26-99 Our Porous Border

THIS ILLEGAL ALIEN WAS DEPORTED AT LEAST FOUR TIMES

THIS ILLEGAL ALIEN KILLED 4 MORE AMERICANS AFTER HE WAS DEPORTED ON
JUNE 2

 6-26-99 Harlingen, Texas

FBI report: Killer sexually assaulted certain victims, some post-mortem

Suspected killer's uncle: Wrong name used in manhunt

MAN KILLS WOMAN HE MISTOOK FOR FUGITIVE

6-25-99 Illegal Mexican Alien Serial Killer Update

The Immigration and Naturalization Service detained Rafael Resendez- Ramirez on June 1 for being in this country illegally and deported him to Mexico. INS officials said they were unaware he was wanted for questioning in at least four killings.

[...then he illegally crossed the porous border and killed four more Americans].

6-24-99 Illegal Mexican Alien Serial Killer Update

NEW PHOTOS RELEASED

Resendez-Ramirez Profile

HOTLINE

6-23-99 Resendez-Ramirez Update

SERIAL KILLER SUSPECT PROFILED

...Resendez-Ramirez has been arrested as many as 10 times from coast to coast. He has spent time in federal prison and at state prisons in Florida and New Mexico. But most of his history involves burglary and getting caught trying to illegally obtain or use American identification.

 6-23-99

East Texas

Illegal Alien Fugitive Serial Killer Voted in Presidential Election

Can you help find accused serial killer Resendez-
Ramirez?

6-18-99

Manhunt Continues

THE SEARCH FOR RESENDEZ-RAMIREZ

The search for accused serial-killer Rafael Resendez-Ramirez results in the arrest of dozens of other illegal aliens at train yards across southwest Texas.

6-17-99

Round Rock, Texas

ILLEGAL MEXICAN ALIEN KILLER MAY BE IN CUSTODY

A drifter from Mexico known to hop freight trains, Resendez-Ramirez has been wanted by the FBI in connection with five Texas killings and one in Lexington, Ky., since August 1997. All the victims were beaten to death near railroad tracks.

Round Rock, Texas

Suspected serial killer is NOT man captured in central Texas

Fingerprints don't match up.

6-16-99

San Antonio, Texas

SEARCH FOR RESENDEZ-RAMIREZ NETS 40 MEXICAN INVADERS

"Obviously, it wasn't a party or a quinceañera or anything, so he called the border patrol," said Marcelino Alaniz, a special agent with the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service's Anti-Smuggling Unit.

 6-14-99

Mexican Serial Killer Update

RESENDEZ-RAMIREZ' VICTIMS CAR FOUND

The murderous path of a suspected railway-hopping serial killer has stopped cold at Mexico's border, where the car of one of six victims linked to the 39-year-old drifter was found abandoned in a Del Rio parking lot.

6-13-99

San Diego, California

Serial killer might be headed here

The FBI in San Diego is asking for the public's help in finding a suspected serial killer who is believed responsible for the beating deaths of six people in Texas, and who may be headed to California by rail.