In the sultry and blustery afternoons after school, in a vintage 'haveli'
type house with big courtyards lined with Italian tiles in down town
Hyderabad city, I remember having only one passion. Hidden from the
elder members of the extended family in the high ceiling rooms with
comparatively cool climate, I read crime fiction stories from Suspense
and Jasoosi digest. In a household where religion was practiced
fervently along with the actvities of taraqqi pasand tahreek.
A big collection of Russian literature including more than one copy of
Karl Marx' Das capital always waited for my attention but at the same
time these crime stories appeared to a nine-year-old child like me as
fantasies. Now settled in North America, these frequent planned murder
stories of the family members and closed ones always remind me of my
child hood obsession of reading mystery stuff.
Similar to my childhood crime fiction stories the recent Independent UK news reads, "A man murdered his wife at her sister’s funeral service – after he killed both her sister and father to lure her there. Samuel Velasco Gurrola faces life in prison after he executed the grisly plot with the help of his two siblings in the US town of El Paso in Texas." Yet, this is not a fantasy. Its a real murder that happened on the borders of the United States and Maxico.
Mr Velasco, 41, wanted to kill his wife Ruth Sagredo so she couldn’t testify against him in a sexual assault case, according to CBS News.
He hired a hitman (a paid killer) in 2008 to murder Ms Sagredo’s father in Juarez, the city in Mexico which shares a border with El Paso, in an attempt to lure his wife to the funeral. Probably, the murder carried out in Maxicao was most likely to be ignored by law enforcement agencies through bribe unlike in the United States.
But that didn’t work and a month later Mr Velasco’s sister-in-law was also found dead in the Mexican city. Ms Sagredo was killed at her sister’s funeral procession.
The jury took just three hours to convict Mr Velasco of seven separate accounts in what prosecutors called an “evil plot”. He is set to be sentenced in January. Mr Valasco’s lawyer told CBS Newshe would appeal the decision.
According to Vice News, Mr Velasco, his brother Emmanuel and sister Dalia were allegedly at the head of a drug trafficking gang which prosecutors referred to as the "Velasco Criminal Enterprise".
It is alleged that the siblings planned and executed a wave of "extortion and kidnapping" in the US and Mexico from 2009 to 2013.
Family murder stories, as it seems, are not rare anymore in Pakistan. With the advent of internet and services like cellular internet, we are swiftly importing western culture and materialistic values. Our own family system and its values are on the verge of breakage. And the time is not far when these crime fantasies will be part of the reality in our own homes and society.
Similar to my childhood crime fiction stories the recent Independent UK news reads, "A man murdered his wife at her sister’s funeral service – after he killed both her sister and father to lure her there. Samuel Velasco Gurrola faces life in prison after he executed the grisly plot with the help of his two siblings in the US town of El Paso in Texas." Yet, this is not a fantasy. Its a real murder that happened on the borders of the United States and Maxico.
Mr Velasco, 41, wanted to kill his wife Ruth Sagredo so she couldn’t testify against him in a sexual assault case, according to CBS News.
He hired a hitman (a paid killer) in 2008 to murder Ms Sagredo’s father in Juarez, the city in Mexico which shares a border with El Paso, in an attempt to lure his wife to the funeral. Probably, the murder carried out in Maxicao was most likely to be ignored by law enforcement agencies through bribe unlike in the United States.
But that didn’t work and a month later Mr Velasco’s sister-in-law was also found dead in the Mexican city. Ms Sagredo was killed at her sister’s funeral procession.
The jury took just three hours to convict Mr Velasco of seven separate accounts in what prosecutors called an “evil plot”. He is set to be sentenced in January. Mr Valasco’s lawyer told CBS Newshe would appeal the decision.
According to Vice News, Mr Velasco, his brother Emmanuel and sister Dalia were allegedly at the head of a drug trafficking gang which prosecutors referred to as the "Velasco Criminal Enterprise".
It is alleged that the siblings planned and executed a wave of "extortion and kidnapping" in the US and Mexico from 2009 to 2013.
Family murder stories, as it seems, are not rare anymore in Pakistan. With the advent of internet and services like cellular internet, we are swiftly importing western culture and materialistic values. Our own family system and its values are on the verge of breakage. And the time is not far when these crime fantasies will be part of the reality in our own homes and society.
Media Bites Editor's Choice -Tazeen Hasan
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