Sweetwater Reporter (Sweetwater, Tex.), Vol. 113, No. 357, Ed. 1 Thursday, January 12, 2012 Page: 3 of 10
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Sweetwater Reporter
Thursday, January 12, 2012 ■ Page 3
Two get life in deadly
drug-related ambush in Odessa
MIDLAND, Texas (AP) — Two brothers have been
sentenced to life in prison over a drug-related ambush
in West Texas in which more than 150 shots were
fired and two unarmed men died.
A federal judge in Midland on Wednesday sen-
tenced 42-year-old Francisco Sauseda and 40-year-
old Armando Sauseda Sr.
A juiy in September convicted the pair of murder
to further drug trafficking and conspiracy to possess
with intent to distribute cocaine and marijuana.
Prosecutors say an SUV in an alley in Odessa was
ambushed on June 1, 2009.
Jose "Chico" Gardea was killed instantly.
Investigators say Steven Soto was executed, by
Sauseda Sr., with two shots to the head while crouched
on the floorboard.
Court
Continued from pagel
marriage eventually dis-
solved four years later.
She eventually moved to
Amarillo twice for a short
time with friends, where
she took employment as a
dancer and involved her-
self with drags and alco-
hol. She also recollected
on her time in high school
in Roscoe, in which she no
longer cared about school
due to the incident,
However, while in
Amarillo the second time,
the victim testified to
attempting suicide. She
later moved to Sweetwater,
and from the build up and
alcohol abuse, she sent a
text message to her moth-
er. The next morning, the
two met up and the victim
told her mother she had
been hurt by her former
stepbrother and stepfa-
ther.
The victim told her
mother's counselor of the
incident who she still
meets with — and they
went to the local Sheriffs
Office to offer a state-
ment.
In cross-examination,
the victim said that she
had a rough relation-
ship with her mother and
that she moved back and
forth between her mother
and father because of her
friends and other rela-
tionships. She noted that
her mom didn't like her
life choices, including her
use of drugs starting at 16
years of age.
The defense then entered
the victim's medical
records from her time in an
Amarillo hospital follow-
ing her suicide attempt, in
which she read an exceipt
noting her history with
drugs and alcohol. She
stated that a breakup and
anger from the situation
led to the suicide attempt,
though the incident with
Castillo was also a con-
tributing factor while the
drugs helped to numb the
pain she felt. However, the
defense argued that the
drug use and its long term
effects led to the suicide
attempt.
The victim, in meeting
with Hicks, said that she
felt that Castillo and his
son were aware of each
other's sexual assaults
and conspired against her
because of the similarity
in each incident. She said
that up until each incident,
her relationship with each
male was on good terms,
and while she feared it
could possibly happen
again, it was something
she never1 thought about.
She did acknowledge that
she had and continues to
have nightmares of the
encounter.
Defense attorney
Blizzard also pointed out
that the victim had put the
wrong place of employ-
ment for Castillo in the
report, and that the night
mares came as a result of
the long term effects from
her drug use. The victim
only told Hicks of the pos-
sible conspiracy between
Castillo and his son against
her, but never noted in
the statement that Hicks
typed up for her.
The victim also had one
encounter with Castillo
while working at the
Azteca Bar, where they
greeted and hugged each
other which brought back
memories of the incident.
The state once again
questioned the victim,
who said that she felt her
mother was to blame for
the incident because their
marriage brought her in
contact with Castillo.
The victim also testified
to telling a friend a year
after the incident of what
happened, and upon tell-
ing her mother years
later their relationship
improved. However, the
defense pointed out that
while she told Hicks of the
sexual assault, she denied
several of her life choices,
including drug abuse.
Shortly before 11 a.m.,
the victim's mother took
the stand. Her two marital
relationships were briefly
discussed, and she and
her children along with
Castillo and his children
were all getting along
before the incident. After
a short time of when the
victim moved back from
living with her father,
the mother noted that
her daughter's demeanor
changed and was very
closed off.
A timeline was given
of how the victim moved
back and forth between
living with each of her par-
ents and friends, up to the
time she reached out to
her mother by text mes-
sage to talk with her. Out
of concern, she found out
from her daughter that she
had been hurt as a child
but didn't know what to
do or say.
Upon telling Hicks — her
personal counselor—about
it, she made an appoint-
ment for her daughter to
meet with her. The fol-
lowing day, the victim told
Hicks what took place, in
which the}' went to the
Sheriffs Office to speak
with Sgt. Brock Carter and
file a report. She lived with
her mother after revealing
the incident^ but moved
back to Amarillo for a few
months. The mother sus-
pected her daughter's drug
use and was concerned
about her lifestyle and
made attempts to talk to
her about it, as their rela-
tionship had improved.
When questioned by the
defense, she said she tried
talking to her daughter
about her life in order to
become a better person.
They also brought up her
divorce from Castillo and
some financial problems
that followed as a result
from the proceedings. Her
first divorce from the vic-
tim's biological father and
her feelings toward him
were also discussed.
The mother clarified
that Castillo worked for
her late brother on loca-
tion at Georgia Pacific, but
was not employed with the
company until after the
incident. She also stated
that she never suspected
him of doing anything
to her daughter but only
knows of the account her
daughter spoke of, though
was not aware of any con-
spiracy.
She also believed thatthe
victim's rebellion against
her as a teen, her drug
use and suicide attempt
were related to the sexual
assault. Her behavior did
improve, however, upon
becoming pregnant with
her first child. The defense
also broke down the times
the victim moved back and
forth between her mother
and her biological father.
When the state ques-
tioned her again, the
mother said that she
was surprised to find out
about Castillo's alleged
assault which was a viola-
tion of trust. The timeline
was mentioned between
Castillo and the mother's
marriage leading up to
their divorce, and in one
instance when the mother
asked if they could rec-
oncile, she said Castillo
noted that he did some-
thing that he could never
forgive himself of.
She told the defense
that she knew Castillo was
seeing someone else dur-
ing their divorce proceed-
ings; back when she had a
family with him, she saw
Castillo's son as her own
and trusted him before
learning of his encoun-
ter with her daughter.
However, she told the state
that because of Castillo's
actions toward her daugh-
ter, she felt guilty of what
happened to her and her
rebellion toward her, and
in retrospect understands
why her daughter acted
that way.
After an extended lunch
recess, Leann Hicks tes-
tified for the state, not-
ing general observations
of how a young teenager
would act out and behave
having been a victim of
sexual assault and not
being immediately treat-
ed. She said that with the
victim, she saw similar
symptoms — such as with-
drawal, extreme fear and
anger — and that it would
be rare for a 12-year-old to
outcry about her assault.
Hicks also confirmed to
being present and typing
up the statement for the
victim.
While being questioned
by the defense, she stated
that the symptoms, how-
ever, could occur from
drug abuse, but that each
person displayed differ-
ent symptoms. In addi-
tion, each person also has
different ages in speaking
about sexual incidents and
each case proves different.
Hicks stated that the
mother told her to speak
with her daughter because
she only knew her daugh-
ter had been hurt as a child.
The victim told her that
she believed Castillo and
his son were both aware of
what each had done to her,
but never noted that in
the written statement. The
conspiracy noted by the
victim, according to Hicks,
was a very rare idea. She
did, however, believe there
was more to the victim's
story but did believe what
she was told.
She has counseled the
victim for a little over two
years, but does not discuss
her personal life in detail.
She initially denied some
issues — like relationships
and partying — because
of what Hicks believed to
be embarrassment. She
spoke with the victim
after her suicide attempt
in Amarillo, in which she
said that the nightmares
played continuously in her
mind but never went into
detail. The victim later
told Hicks that she was
fearful from seeing her
former stepbrother and
recalled seeing Castillo at
the Azteca.
The final witness to take
the stand for the state
was a childhood friend of
the victim who found out
about the incident from
the victim a year after it
occurred. She attempted
to comfort the victim and
never told anyone of what
she was told.
She acknowledged to
the defense that she wasn't
very close to the victim
now due to distance and
has not spoken with her
about the case. She never
told anyone because she
didn't know what to do,
though she wanted to do
something.
At this time, around 2:15
p.m. the state rested their
case, After a brief recess,
the defense began their
line of testimony by call-
ing up Sgt. Brock Carter of
the Nolan County Sheriffs
Office.
Carter was the inves-
tigator on the case and
presented the case to the
District Attorney's office.
He was informed of the
victim through her inter-
action with Hicks and he
stated that he interviewed
the victim, her mother,
Castillo and his son.
Carter noted that he
believed that Castillo
wasn't being honest or
innocent due to the fact
that during his interview,
he never asked why he was
there. The defense pre-
sented a complaint against
Castillo on a hot check,
presuming that Castillo
believed that was the rea-
son he was meeting with
Carter, thus never asking.
Carter noted that each
person — whether inno-
cent or guilty - can act
differently, but this par-
ticular case was out of the
ordinary.
However, Carter stated
that upon interviewing
Castillo's son, he didn't
seem nervous or seem to
be hiding something. He
also never suspected or
heard about the conspir-
acy between Castillo and
his son against the victim.
During his interview
with Julian Castillo.
Carter said that he denied
the allegation and seemed
shock. Toward the end of
the interrogation, Castillo
began to cry.
Carter also noted to
the defense that he didn't
investigate the back-
grounds of those that he
interviewed because he
didn't deem it relevant to
the case.
At this time, an audio
recording of the inter-
view between Castillo and
Carter was entered into
evidence. The recording,
around 30 minutes, was
played for the jury along
with a powerpoint pre-
sentation that highlighted
quotes from the interview.
Upon going through
some background history
of Castillo, Carter finally
asked Castillo why he
never asked as to why he
was being interviewed. The
defense then stated that
Castillo was never given
the chance to answer.
They also pointed out
Castillo's surprise when
hearing of the accusa-
tion made against him by
his former stepdaughter,
and Carter notes that she
described in detail as to
what happened. Castillo
denied the accusation, say-
ing that it was the "worst
thing" he could think of.
He also said that he was
careful around her due in
part to the "bad steppar-
ent" stigma given by the
media and in entertain-
ment.
The defense stated that
Carter gave him the bene-
fit of the doubt, and Carter
also informed Castillo not
to discuss the situation
with anyone — because
rumors could be made
— and that he would be
able to speak on the issue
later.
Toward the end of the
recording:, Castillo noted
that he could call his girl-
friend - who became his
wife - if necessary. Carter
stated, however, that he
never did call her.
He also noted that he
only discussed the drug
use of the victim with
her mother in an unre-
lated matter, in which the
defense discussed the long
term effects from drug use,
namely crystal meth.
The state recounted how
Carter was brought into
the case and the process
of performing interviews
with victims. He noted that
the victim was uncomfort-
able speaking with Carter
one on one, in which Hicks
was in the room and she
typed up the statement
with Carter witnessing.
Carter also took a state-
ment from the mother,
and he contrasted the
process between taking
statements and interviews
from complainants, wit-
nesses and suspects. He
said that with suspects, the
interview tends to be more
lengthy and a rapport has
to be established in order
to ease the situation and
relax the one being inter-
viewed.
Also, Carter stated that
in all of his interviews with
presumed sexual assault
suspects, Castillo was the
only one he could recall
who never asked as to
why he was being interro-
gated. He also interpreted
some statements made by
Castillo like he was defend-
ing himself, as if the action
had already occurred.
.Around 4:50 p.m., pre-
siding judge Glen Harrison
called court into recess for
the day. The trial contin-
ued on Thursday morning,
Jan. 12, 2012 beginning at
9 a.m.
Remains of prehistoric
hut found in San Antonio
JOHN W. GONZALEZ
San Antonio Express-News
SAN ANTONIO (AP) — About 3,500 years ago, when
the Bronze Age was ending in Europe and the Olmec civ-
ilization was thriving in Mexico, natives in San Antonio
were living off the land using primitive tools, as they had
been for thousands of years.
Signs of ancient human settlements have been found
elsewhere in Texas, some more than 10,000 years old.
And now there's evidence that about 1500 B.C. — three
millennia before the Spanish Conquest — natives were
building structures along the San Antonio River.
Last month, workers preparing Mission County Park
for construction found evidence of one such build-
ing while searching for a previous location of nearby
Mission San Jose, which they never located.
What they did uncover — and then reburied after pre-
liminary investigation — were remains of a prehistoric
hut that burned down but left significant clues.
The archaeological find, verified by carbon dating, was
disclosed to Bexar County commissioners Tuesday in a
discussion of the ongoing $5.2 million park redevelop-
ment.
Betty Bueche, who manages county facilities, said
the structure dates from the Late Archaic Period that
spanned from 3000 to 1000 B.C. Evidence is being ana-
lyzed by the state archaeologist and the UTSA Center for
Archaeological Research.
"It adds to the cultural importance of this park, and
it's determined to be the third-oldest-known structure
in the state of Texas, so it's in its own category in pre-
history. It is at least as important as a mission," Bueche
told the court.
Bueche elaborated Wednesday on the discovery brrt
declined to disclose its precise location, citing fears of
tampering.
"It's all underground. There's nothing to see. We've
covered it back up," she said.
Officials are waiting on a second round of carbon dat-
ing to establish when the structure burned. Then the
state archaeologist will review that information as part
of a report being prepared by Steve Tomka, director of
the UTSA center. Tomka isn't authorized to disclose his
findings, including photographs of the site, until they've
been reviewed by the state, Bueche said.
It's not known yet what the structure was used for,
and its dimensions aren't certain.
"All we know is that it burned," Bueche said, but even
so, the charred remnants could tell tales.
"In that timeframe, the structures that have been
found previously are with bent poles, so they formed
sort of a domed hut. These were done with upright
posts, so this was a method of construction that until
this find and the carbon dating that's been done, we
didn't know dated that far back," Bueche said.
Few artifacts have been found at the location.
"There were some chips of flint that obviously had
come from dart points, but very little. That's the thing
— we're at a very preliminary stage" of the investigation,
she said.
The county is poised to exploit the discover}' as it
redevelops the park and completes work on the fixer's
Mission Reach. With further research planned, officials
eventually could make the ancient site part of the park's
educational programming.
No similar structures have been found in the region and
until now the area's oldest known structures were from
the colonial period. In Louisiana, manmade mounds
from the Late Archaic era have been preserved.
"We want to illustrate that the occupation of this area
extended far earlier than when the Spaniards arrived,
and that there is a cultural continuum from the occupa-
tion of the Native American groups, to the arrival of the
Spaniards, to modern day," Bueche said.
In the meantime, officials hope to preserve what's
there and avoid damage from construction and curiosity
seekers.
The discovery ca me as they were using historic records
to try to locate and preserve any remnants of an earlier
site for the San Jose mission. The current location is
believed to be its third. The two previous churches were
destroyed by floods.
"We had no idea that we would come across what we
have come across," Bueche said.
MIDDAY ON WALL STREET
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1206 Lamar St.
Sweetwater, Tx
5:5 6
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Sweetwater Reporter (Sweetwater, Tex.), Vol. 113, No. 357, Ed. 1 Thursday, January 12, 2012, newspaper, January 12, 2012; Sweetwater, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth229660/m1/3/: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Sweetwater/Nolan County City-County Library.