WRAL.com

Oct 23, 2003

TOLUCA, Mexico — Mexican authorities have arrested two brothers for the 1997 murders of five migrant workers in Richmond County.

Alonso Cruz Osorio and Jose Luis Cruz Osorio were arrested where they worked in central Mexico.

The brothers had been charged with five counts of murder and five counts of robbery for an October, 1997, shooting spree in Mangum, 40 miles east of Monroe in Richmond County.

A survivor of the attack helped police track the assailants back to Mexico.

The brothers, who also have been linked to killings in Mexico, are expected to be extradited back to the United States. But Richmond County Sheriff Dale Furr said extradition may be a problem because North Carolina has a death penalty.

"I do know that Mexico hesitates to extradite people back to states that have the death penalty," Furr said. "Right now, I'm not sure if they will be extradited."

Furr said Mexico could try the men using sworn affidavits from North Carolina witnesses if they are not extradited.

The 1997 slayings reportedly stemmed from a dispute that happened after Jose Luis Cruz Osorio was named labor foreman at a farm. The victims were killed with an assault rifle and a small-caliber pistol, which have not been found.

Furr said the Osoris tried to catch a plane to Mexico from Charlotte as they fled but could not buy a ticket because they had no identification. He said they took a bus to Atlanta, where officials lost track of them.

Furr sent deputies to Mexico to investigate.

"We have kept in touch with the FBI and informants who have given us information about their whereabouts in an attempt not to let the case go cold," Furr said.

"We had a language barrier. The whole thing was a problem."

Jose Luis & Alonso Cruz Osorio (5)

On October 6, 1997, brother Jose Luis and Alonso killed their five migrant worker roommates in an apparent robbery at their home in Magnum, North Carolina. A sixth worker, known by his last name, Benitez, survived and identified the attackers. The killers -- Jose Luis,28, and his 18-year-old brother, Alonso -- were each charged with five counts of murder and five of robbery.

More than 32 shell casings from a Chinese-made SKS assault rifle and some kind of .22-caliber weapon were found on the blood-smeared hardwood floors of their sparsely furnished home. Some of the victims were shot in the head. The survivor ran to a neighboring house and collapsed, in a pool of his own blood, on the concrete front steps.

Kitty Hamilton, who lives across the road from the home where the slayings happened, said the bloodied survivor, Jorge Benitez, came banging on her door. "We didn't realize he was as scared as he was... It was more of a scream of terror. I thought he was going to bust the door down. It was out in the country and there were no lights." The Hamiltons called 911 but stayed out of sight, peering through windows.

All eight men had worked together harvesting pumpkins on a farm about 50 miles east of Charlotte. Each had been paid $200 before the lethal robbery. One neighbor, Kim Chandler, said the men were polite and respectful. One man she knew only as Jose used her telephone to call his mother and family in Mexico City, where he sent much of his pay.

Mayhem.net