I think I have met these Mexicans, but I usually hung out with the Russians in the buildings. I was shocked when I found out these guys had been murdered. It is so sad that all the racist whiteys have whipped people into such a anti-immigrant frenzy. I am so sad right now about all of this. The state of affairs in this country is just beyond comprehension at times. I just hope that the Presidential elections will bring about a savior for all of us from this madness. We need a comprehensive immigration reform bill passed along with hate crimes laws so that all peoples who are discriminated against can be protected equally under the law.
http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071214/NEWS01/712140441Last Updated: 11:12 am | Friday, December 14, 2007
Slain man's van found
4 victims stopped showing up for work about 9 days ago, employer says
BY EILEEN KELLEY | EKELLEY@ENQUIRER.COM, STEVE KEMME | SKEMME@ENQUIRER.COM
Update: SHARONVILLE - Police found a purple van this morning they think may have been owned by one of the four men found stabbed to death Thursday in an apartment.
The purple Plymouth Voyager minivan was located about 9:45 a.m. in the 1500 block of East Kemper Road, about five miles from the crime scene, said Lt. John Cook, Sharonville police spokesman. The van is being towed away now.
It may be one of the few clues police have in the stunning quadruple homicide discovered Thursday morning when the men failed to show up for work for more than a week.
Sharonville police received an anonymous tip at 9:10 a.m. today the van was in the grocery store parking lot.
This is the only new development so far today in the murders that remain so much a mystery police still aren’t sure of the victims' identities. It may take days to identify them, Cook said.
The four victims lived a sparse existence, sleeping on mattresses on the floor with little other furniture in an apartment that fetches about $700 a month.
For the past two years, the men could be seen getting into a car and dutifully heading off to work before 8 a.m. each day.
Around the large complex, they were simply known as "The Mexicans."
The routine that many here became accustomed to stopped more than nine days ago when the men stopped showing up for work.
Thursday, Sharonville police, who were asked to do a wellness check on the four men, found themselves in the middle of a crime scene.
The bodies of the men were found in their apartment, heavily decomposed.
One was found in the hallway inside the unit, the others in two of the bedrooms.
The deaths of the men at the Timber Ridge Apartments were homicides, Hamilton County Coroner O'dell Owens said.
Owens did not release the identities of the men but said they were Hispanic. Both he and police suggested that it would take time to track down families.
"We have quite a mess on our hands," Lt. Cook said.
"These guys were pretty loyal workers, and it was unusual that they would not be there at work."
There were signs of violence and struggle, police said. Early indications suggest that the men were stabbed to death, not shot.
The deaths are the second, third, fourth and fifth homicides for the city of roughly 14,000 residents this year. Last year was homicide-free.
"I just don't know what to say," said Adam Ficke, 22, a resident who arrived home from work from his job as a cook at Bob Evans to find the parking lot filled with television antennas, police and men in white protective suits.
"It's just so strange to come into my neighborhood and find out that something like this has happened," he said.
The men worked for Abc Precision Masonry & Concrete Inc. in Mason and hadn't shown up since Dec. 4. Abc co-owner Bryan McCurley said the men, whom he would not identify, worked for the small firm off and on for four or five years.
"They were excellent workers. We're grieving, and we're hurting," he said. "They were like family, that's why it hurts so much."
An odor had begun to alarm some neighbors, but many thought it was just a dead animal, police said.
Police were called Thursday by the masonry company to check on the men.
"It is clearly a quadruple homicide," Owens said. "There is no indication of a homicide-suicide."
Neighbors said they felt safe at the complex that also offers a clubhouse, swimming pool, volleyball court and playground. That safety factor was so strong for some that they admitted that they didn't even lock their doors in the day.
"We'll be sure to lock it now," Joyce Smith, 69, said. Smith and her husband, Thomas, have lived at the complex for 15 years.
"It's pretty horrifying. It makes you wonder if there's anyplace that's safe," Thomas Smith said.
Jim Minor, who lives across the hall, said he saw police arrive in the morning and shortly after saw four bodies removed.
"They had the door open, and I saw the blood inside," he said.
Minor said at least four people lived in the apartment, but he often saw more going in and out.
"They're quiet and kept to themselves," he said. "They'd just say 'hi' and that was about it."
Jennifer Hammond, 33, of West Chester is the on-scene manager of Timber Ridge apartments.
She and the rest of the residents of the 248-unit complex are stunned by the killings.
"They've just been great residents," she said.
She's sent a letter to the rest of the complex residents telling them to contact her or Sharonville police if they have questions or concerns about the four men killed there.
It was unclear whether all the victims lived at the same apartment, but one of their cars was in the parking lot.
Staff writers Jennifer Baker and Kimball Perry contributed to this story.
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