(LibertyInsider.org) – A community member in Modesto, California, phoned the Pacific Southwest Regional Fugitive Task Force (PSWRFTF) with a tip on July 11, allowing US Marshals to apprehend and arrest a fugitive wanted on suspicion of killing three people by setting a trailer home ablaze while they slept. Authorities touted the capture as the successful collaboration of law enforcement, the community, and media outlets.
Stockton firefighters responded to a call about a fifth-wheel trailer engulfed in flames in the yard of a Stockton home on June 28 around 6:30 a.m. As they fought the fire, first responders discovered three people had perished inside the travel trailer. A mother, 32-year-old Lisbeth Gutierrez-Salazar, and two of her three sons, Juan Gutierrez-Salazar, six, and 10-year-old Julian Cardona-Gutierrez, perished. Her oldest son, 13, escaped the inferno.
Investigators believed that Jose Carmen Cardona, 59, intentionally set the blaze. Family members reported that he and Gutierrez-Salazar had pursued a relationship. Cardona was not the father of any of the children.
In a statement, San Joaquin County District Attorney Ron Freitas said his office filed a five-count arrest warrant on June 28 based on investigators’ findings. With the help of the US Marshal Service (USMS) and the PSWRFTF, a multi-agency task force, a hunt began for Cardona.
Cardona used several aliases, including J. Carmen Cardoza Rodriguez, making the pursuit more challenging. Acting U.S. Marshal for the Eastern District of California Lasha Boyden noted that the agency elevated the hunt to the USMS Major Case Fugitive Program on July 2, allowing marshalls to offer a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and prioritize resources to find the high-profile suspect.
The resulting phone tip allowed Boyden’s team to capture Cardona on July 11 at a Modesto bus station. Investigators believe he planned to flee the area and was possibly seeking a way out of the US.
On July 15, prosecutors formally charged him with child endangerment, one count of attempted murder, and three counts of murder. Freitas explained his office also filed special circumstances against the defendant, including torture, arson, and multiple murders, qualifying Cardona for the death penalty if a jury finds him guilty.
In 2019, California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) placed a moratorium on executions in the state, vowing that no California citizen would die on Death Row while he remained governor. However, the sentence precludes any possibility of parole.
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