http://www.boston.com/dailynews/176/nation/Authorities_had_suspected_seri:.shtml
Authorities had suspected serial killer June 1 and let him go, FBI says
By Michael Graczyk, Associated Press, 06/25/99 17:34 EDT (2:34 PM PDT)
HOUSTON (AP) The suspected serial killer wanted in connection with eight slayings committed near railroad tracks was in the custody of immigration officials earlier this month but was let go, federal authorities said Friday.
The Immigration and Naturalization Service detained Rafael
Resendez-Ramirez
on June 1 for being in this country illegally and deported him
to Mexico. INS officials said they were unaware he was wanted
for questioning in at least four killings.
''I'm not going to discuss whether it was a mechanical error or an error at all,'' said Don K. Clark, special agent in charge of the Houston FBI office and head of a task force pursuing him.
''I don't think it's a blow to our investigation. Clearly we would like to have him right this minute. We would have liked to have him some time ago, but what it does do is give us the most current photograph we can get out to the public in hopes somebody may have seen this person.''
Clark and INS spokesman Russ Bergeron refused to say where Resendez-Ramirez was picked up. Houston television station KHOU reported he was detained in New Mexico.
Four of the eight slayings linked to Resendez-Ramirez have happened since he was taken into custody June 1 and released soon thereafter. Two were in Texas and two were in Illinois.
Meanwhile, amid the din of ringing phones, about two dozen detectives are working around the clock in a large room in a Houston office building, fielding hundreds of tips from around the nation about Resendez-Ramirez.
An FBI-led task force, called Operation Train Stop, is trying to catch him before another body turns up with the tattooed ex-convict and master of disguise.
More than 200 investigators are assigned to effort, which is based in Houston.
Calls to a toll-free number get answered here, and members of the task force jot down information from tipsters no doubt lured in part by a $125,000 reward for the suspect's capture and conviction.
''We are getting some very good lead information in,'' Clark said.
The last time the Houston room was at full-bore was in 1996 with the investigation that led to the capture of Mexican drug lord Juan Garcia Abrego. He was eventually convicted of ferrying 15 tons of cocaine and laundering $10.5 million and is serving 11 life sentences.
Investigators believe Resendez-Ramirez travels the country on freight trains. Fingerprints have linked him to at least some of the slayings. Most of the victims were bludgeoned to death.
Detectives from more than a dozen federal, state and local agencies, plus police from the Union Pacific Burlington Northern and Santa Fe railroads, handle the calls, which picked up dramatically Monday, when the reward jumped by $50,000 and Resendez-Ramirez was put on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted list. By week's end, investigators had logged nearly 2,000 calls.
Telephones, personal computers and laptops cover the tables. TV sets hang from the ceiling. Photos of Resendez-Ramirez are tacked on a wall, and a board lists many of the 39-year-old Mexican's 30 known aliases. Maps show the state of Texas, Houston and the Mexican border.
Resendez-Ramirez has been linked to five slayings since last year in Texas. He has also been connected to a 1997 killing in Kentucky and charged with murdering a father and daughter this month in Illinois.
WVCT Note: This guy was deported at least three times previously. Why would the INS not lock him up in prison for re-entry when they had him on June 1? Why didn't the INS know that this guy had four murder warrants?
