Castillo-Alvarez guilty on murder, kidnapping charges

Photos by Randy Cauthron Clay County Deputies transport Juan Humberto Castillo-Alvarez to the Palo Alto County Courthouse for verdicts on three charges Friday. The former Estherville restaurant owner was implicated in the disappearance and death of Sky Erickson in 1997.

Daily Reporter Staff

There were moments in the past decade when authorities had some idea of where to find Juan Humberto Castillo-Alvarez.

Until just over a year ago, they couldn't bring him back.

The former restaurant owner and head of a drug ring in Estherville fled to his native Mexico soon after the body of a northwest Iowa teen-ager was discovered in 1997.

The teen-ager, 15-year-old Gregory Sky Erickson, was shot execution-style by a member of the Los Krazy Boyz, an Estherville gang, over a drug debt owed to Castillo-Alvarez.

Judge Don Courtney on Friday returned a verdict convicting the longtime fugitive of second-degree murder, second-degree kidnapping and conspiracy to commit a forcible felony. Castillo-Alvarez is scheduled to receive his sentence at 10 a.m. Tuesday, March 4, at the Clay County Courthouse in Spencer.

Wearing a bulletproof vest under his light-gray, button-down shirt, Castillo-Alvarez showed little emotion as Courtney read his verdict in open court.

A jury wasn't present because Castillo-Alvarez waived a jury trial. Attorneys submitted closing arguments to Courtney in writing. Evidence was presented over parts of three days on Sept. 18, 19 and 21.

"We had to wait four months for the verdict and 10 years for the trial but I think the fact that Judge Courtney took the time and looked at all the facts leaves me to believe there's really no chance for a successful appeal," Erickson's mom, Joni Ketter said. She was on the West Coast and could not attend Friday's proceedings.

"I was a little concerned," she said. "I was especially concerned about the murder charge. I always felt he was a little more at arm's length than some of the others, but I'm glad Judge Courtney could see through that."

Castillo-Alvarez wasn't present when Erickson was murdered -- his main enforcer Luis Lua fired the fatal bullet.

Under the direction of Lua, who was 21 at the time, members of the gang assaulted and abducted Erickson in Spencer on June 6, 1997. Erickson's head was covered with a pillow case as Lua and others rendezvoused in Estherville, stopped at Fort Defiance State Park and again near Swan Lake north of Superior.

At different times throughout the journey, Erickson was bound, gagged, and repeatedly beaten by gang members. He was ultimately placed in the trunk of the car, covered by a garbage bag, and driven to a remote area.

The body was found partially burned at a rural Jackson County farmhouse less than two miles from the Iowa border on June 14, 1997. Ten people ranging in age from 16 to 27 were charged with varying roles in "Sky" Erickson's death.

Courtney found Castillo-Alvarez guilty because the defendant "acted in concert with others and while acting in concert with others he participated in a public offense," referring to the abduction of Erickson.

"Participant Luis Lua in the furtherance of the kidnapping knowingly committed a different crime, the murder of Gregory Sky Erickson," Courtney said in his ruling. "The court concludes that Gregory Sky Erickson's murder was reasonably foreseeable."

Assistant Public Defender Michael Williams argued that Lua was high on methamphetamine and out of control when he tried to collect the drug debt from Erickson. Castillo-Alvarez was a drug dealer, Williams conceded, but could not have anticipated Lua's actions at the farmhouse in Minnesota.

Testimony from Gabriel Utrera Cedillo, a cell mate detained at the Clay County Jail on burglary charges, portrayed Castillo-Alvarez as someone who was more involved in the execution.

"The child was beaten as was ordered, he was killed as was ordered, the weapon was returned, it was hidden in a restaurant, which at the time, he mentioned was his property that he would rent and he would also sell food from there and at the same time drugs," Cedillo testified, through an interpreter.

Cedillo's court appearance surprised Erickson's family and members of the legal community in September.

"When I hear about a jail house snitch, I immediately kind of cringe because, first of all they're not usually credible people," said Mike Zenor, a prosecutor who tried several of the suspects in the Erickson murder. "Secondly, they usually want to get out of prison themselves -- but this guy didn't ask for anything. He just came forward."

Assistant state attorney general Charles Thoman presented testimony from retired special agent Robert Birnie of the FBI in the final day of the Castillo-Alvarez trial. Birnie accompanied Castillo-Alvarez back to Iowa during the extradition process from Mexico just over one year ago.

Birnie also was present and sat in the far corner of the courtroom when the verdict was read.

Zenor called the agent "the one guy who just never, ever quit."

"He just kept going," Zenor said. "It was due to him more than any other person this happened. There were a fair number of us who were involved and helped. But he was the one who always kept the fires going."

Federal investigators monitored the whereabouts of Castillo-Alvarez through contact with Mexican authorities. Once the diplomatic channels could be navigated, the extradition process came together quickly in October 2006. Federal authorities used an arrest warrant to bring Castillo-Alvarez over the border to Harris County, Texas. He was detained on a charge of flight to avoid prosecution.

Castillo-Alvarez was then transported to Houston and taken before a magistrate where the flight to avoid prosecution charge was cancelled and he was held on Clay County warrants for murder, kidnapping and conspiracy. Castillo-Alvarez was charged with state offenses as part of an agreement with Mexican authorities. Federal charges could have carried the death penalty and would have hindered extradition for the State Department.

"I believe the proper charge was first-degree murder, but we couldn't do that," because of diplomatic negotiations, Zenor, said. "I don't think this (Erickson's death) would have happened but for him. He wasn't there to pull the trigger, but he certainly told them to beat him up."

Many of the people who had a connection to Sky Erickson and his case say Friday's verdict will help them shift focus.

"Nobody deserved what happened to him," Sky's father, Gregory Erickson said. "Before I knew about any of this stuff and how deeply he'd gotten involved in things, he would have been the last person I would have suspected that of. So I try to remember everything good and maybe gloss over some of the mistakes. Unfortunately, there's going to be a lot of people who remember the bad things and gloss over the good."

"I guess, in a way, I've been moving on for a long time," Ketter said in a telephone interview from Oregon. "It is not something that you ever get over as a parent. I just pray that no other parent has to go through this."

The word closure is "way overused, but I suppose it is appropriate here," Zenor said.

"I always thought the thing was not done until Juan Humberto was brought back to trial," he said. "So it was incomplete. There were 10 people including him and of those 10, he was near the top of people who were responsible for this. It was very, very important that this happened."

TIMELINE:

* Dec. 29, 1996 -- Milford Police Officer Allen Kruger stopped a suspicious vehicle parked near a car wash. The driver was Gregory Sky Erickson. Officers seized marijuana and $728 in cash. The money became a source of tension between Erickson and the gang members he became involved with.

* June 1 or 2, 1997 -- Ben Alden, Aurelio Ortiz and Shawn Knakmuhs were looking for methamphetamine when Erickson showed up at the 24-hour parking lot, near Ace Hardware, in Estherville. Ortiz gave Erickson $500 and expected the teen-ager to return in a day or two with the product. Several days went by and Ortiz never received the drugs or the cash.

* June 5, 1997 -- Sarah Kozak drove Shawn Knakmuhs, Ben Alden and Luis Lua to Eric Sebasta's apartment in Spencer. Lua had a .380 Lorcin, which he obtained from Castillo-Alvarez. A tense confrontation ensured and Knakmuhs, acting on behalf of Ortiz demanded methamphetamine. Lua demanded repayment of the original $1,400 debt for the pound of marijuana delivered in December 1996.

* Erickson gave the gang members an amount of methamphetamine and they returned to Estherville. At Ortiz's house, they weighed the drugs and determined Erickson misrepresented the amount they were receiving.

* June 6, 1997 -- in the morning or early afternoon hours, Ortiz, Juan Astello, Knakmuhs, Alden and Brett Morton gathered at Ortiz's residence in Estherville. Ortiz brought out two guns and sent Alden and Knakmuhs to a store to buy bullets.

* Two carloads of gang members headed to Spencer to confront Erickson. Kozak drove one car, with Alden and Ortiz as passengers. Juan Astello drove his car with Knakmuhs, Lua and Morton as passengers. Astello stopped at a convenience store where the group purchased duct tape and zip ties.

* Erickson often stayed at the Sebasta apartment in Spencer, but was not there when the group arrived. Lua dispatched Alden, Sebasta and Kozak to a local golf course where Erickson was. While waiting, Lua offered Erickson's marijuana business to Sebasta. Lua then called Juan Humberto Castillo-Alvarez from a pay phone and discussed the decision.

* Juan Astello and Brett Morton left as Erickson was arriving at the apartment. They take all but one of the guns with them. The .380 Lorcin pistol left behind was later identified as the murder weapon. Erickson came to the apartment at about the same time Lua and Knakmuhs were returning. When they entered Knakmuhs said to Erickson: "Don't you think you're in a little bit of trouble?"

* Erickson was taken into a bedroom and beaten by Lua and Ortiz. The gun was pointed at his head and fired without ammunition. The pistol was also shoved down Erickson's throat, causing him to vomit. Lua then grabbed the bill of Erickson's cap and said: "We're going to take Sky to see the man. You want to go see the man don't you, Sky?" Lua forced Sky's head to move up and down in a nod. Alden and Knakmuhs stayed at the apartment in Spencer because there wasn't enough room in the car.

* Lua, Ortiz and Kozak then took Sky to Lua's apartment in Estherville. Juan and Ramiro Astello met them there. The Astellos and Lua put a pillow case over Erickson's head and took him to the Mexico Lindo restaurant owned by Castillo-Alvarez.

* Lua and the Astellos were instructed to take Erickson out into the country and punish him. Two Estherville teen-agers: Ryan Wedebrand and Thomas Mann met the group at Fort Defiance State Park in Estherville.

* The group drove from the state park to Swan Lake near the town of Superior. Erickson was severely beaten at the location. Lua pulled out a gun and was ready to shoot him. He was talked out of it by one of the Astello brothers, who suggested a better location.

* Erickson was then thrown into the trunk of the car and taken to an abandoned farmhouse in Jackson County, Minn., where he was killed by Lua. The murder weapon was eventually returned to Castillo-Alvarez and hidden.