Soldier accused of being hit man for cartel
12 August 2009
A U.S. soldier arrested in connection with the killing of a Mexican drug cartel member in El Paso, Texas, allegedly worked as a hit man, court records say.
Michael Jackson Apodaca, 18, is a soldier based at Fort Bliss.
1 of 3 Pfc. Michael Jackson Apodaca, 18, was one of three men arrested Monday in connection with the shooting death of the mid-level drug cartel member who also worked as an informant for the United States, according to a complaint affidavit.
Police identified the other suspects as Ruben Rodriguez Dorado, 30, and Christopher Andrew Duran, 17.
The three men each face one count of capital murder, El Paso police said.
The victim, Jose Daniel Gonzalez Galeana, was shot multiple times in front of his home on May 15. Duran and Rodriguez told police that Apodaca was paid to be the shooter, the affidavit states. Cell phone records, witness statements and El Paso Police detectives corroborated this, according to the document.
Orders to kill Gonzalez came from the same cartel he worked for, the affidavit said. Gonzalez had become a target because the cartel believed he was leaking information to authorities, the document said.source: cnn.com