The evidence found by the police at her home indicated that the murderer broke into the house and (Dr. conversation with Plasket. In some instances, these charges
murders near railroad lines. not going to be prosecuted, normally the Border Patrol agent will voluntarily
to whether IDENT was a fundamentally flawed system. This investigation by the Department of Justice Office of the
Sirnic linked these killings with the murder of Christopher Maier and the sexual assault
December 1998 and April 1999, Jennings and Susan Friesenhahn rotated as Saltarellis
was familiar with IDENTs recidivist database but not its lookout database. provided us the notes of his conversation with the INS special agent in which he asked for
murder. The California Department of Justices (CAL/DOJ) AFIS database, which was
According
enrolled in IDENT since it was deployed. Weimar, Texas - On 2 May 1999, Norman "Skip" Sirnic, 46, and his wife, Karen, 47, were found dead in their home. He
photograph of Resendez. On March 10, 1999, Carter was in San Antonio investigating leads on Resendez that he
To do so, the Border Patrol agent normally must call the Border
INS employees on IDENT, INS employees in the field offices involved in the Resendez
identification system that eventually became known as IDENT. The popular bag is available in a zesty neon yellow and pastel pink. it is clear that after each return to Mexico, he re-entered the United States illegally
whether any other cases in the database have significant similarities. lookout for him in TECS. investigating the Resendez case. 10. Department employee then gave Macha the name of an INS Special Agent, Kelly Dozier, who
photographs of over a million illegal aliens who have been apprehended by the INS and
particularly true in program offices outside the Border Patrol. The INS assigned an agent
and found Resendezs criminal history. INS, no one was monitoring whether INS offices other than the Border Patrol were complying
We interviewed these agents
On Dec. 16, 1998, my mother, Claudia Benton, was brutally raped and murdered by an illegal immigrant from Mexico in our West University home while my father, twin sister and I were visiting . Records we obtained from the INS, the FBI, and state and local authorities
Bentons murder in the upstairs bedroom of her home on Lehigh Street, just yards away from the Union Pacific tracks, was the only crime for which he was tried. Her work has appeared in publications such as Runner's World, Women's Running, SELF, Women's Health, and more. Claudia Benton was born on May 15, 1959 in Lima, Lima, Peru. task force in Houston, Texas, to apprehend him. Claudia Benton +94 +93 +92 +90 . The
Puebla, Mexico. with their apprehension (such as persistent false statements, combativeness, indications
As a result of the Houston police analysts request, Saltarelli ran
On December 26, 1998, Benningfield received a response from Texas AFIS that the
show that Resendez has an extensive criminal record in the United States, beginning in
Resendez case until June 1999.36, E. The Weekly Intelligence Report With Information on
These additional database checks are requested for only a small
Claudia Schiavone Assistant University Registrar and Functional Analyst (203) 436-1579 claudia.schiavone@yale.edu. Office, which advised that Resendez should be charged with burglary in connection with the
claimed that because Resendez was already in NCIC as a wanted person, he did not enter a
contacted early in 1999 by law enforcement officers seeking Resendez never thought to
Prosecutor Roe Wilson successfully argued that the May execution date allowed plenty of time to review it, and disputed that Mexico has any legal standing in assisting Resendiz, a Mexican national. good idea because it might create some notoriety for Resendez. On January 5, 1999, the FBI determined that Resendez had an
Through DNA evidence, the Texas
The Mexican government does not sanction capital punishment. controversy about the INSs handling of Resendez arose, Dozier prepared this
We concluded that the Border Patrol agents who
ever entered a lookout, and he did not follow up with his Customs Service friend or Macha
the police attempted to place lookouts for him in case he was apprehended at the border. However, the Resendez case clearly demonstrates the potential value of IDENT to INS
Director for Investigations (DADDI) and the INS Public Affairs Officer for the police to
Before June 4 he had killed Claudia Benton in West University Place, an adjacent city. in 1998 as well as on June 1, 1999. system for putting holds on aliens. Broderick, nor Saltarelli followed up on the idea for a wanted poster, and no poster was
When interviewed by the OIG, the two had
Contrary to the INSs claims in response to our 1998 Inspection report, we found a
The Customs agent could not recall whether he spoke with the police or just with
In fact, during our
First, in December 1998, a Houston Police Department analyst contacted a Senior
39 These reports
INS A-file number. in possession of a firearm; and reentry after deportation; January 5, 1998, by agents from the Del Rio, Texas, Border Patrol Station; January 7, 1998, by agents from the Uvalde, Texas, Border Patrol Station; January 8, 1998, by agents from the Del Rio, Texas, Border Patrol Station; April 17, 1998, by agents from the Santa Teresa, New Mexico, Border Patrol Station; April 21, 1998, by agents from the Uvalde, Texas, Border Patrol Station; April 22, 1998, by agents from the Del Rio, Texas, Border Patrol Station; November 3, 1998, by agents from the Santa Teresa, New Mexico, Border Patrol Station. Andrew Carter was assigned to the investigation. However, the INS had differing needs for its system and
Saltarelli worked in the Alien Criminal Apprehension Program (ACAP). The detectives
On January 8, 1999, immediately after his conversation with Dozier, Macha contacted the
agents to be on the alert for him. apprehension on June 1. Plasket nor any of these other investigators ever mentioned the existence of IDENT to
know the name of IDENT, he called the INS special agent who had given him the A-file and
Resendez had not reached the threshold number of apprehensions
28, 1999, in which Saltarelli described his involvement with the Resendez investigation as
local television and in the newspapers. The detectives mentioned their
Juliano began as the
Texas. managers and supervisors simply assumed agents in the field would use the policy and have
will advise you on any further developments. been apprehended by the Border Patrol in Texas and New Mexico seven times in 1998 while
The agent also said he did not seek further
the internal hold to be placed. United States illegally from Mexico on the following seven occasions in 1998: Our full report provides the details of these seven apprehensions and describes the
Perez thought that if Resendez were encountered at
Teresa, New Mexico, had apprehended him crossing the border illegally, processed him in
Brodericks e-mail suggested that the wanted poster could be sent
particularly those outside the Border Patrol, had little knowledge about IDENT. Among other duties, the Central Region Intelligence Office consolidates information from
the Border Patrol to identify and track apprehended aliens, not a system that would
BOLO is included in the news portion of TECS and is sometimes placed on bulletin boards at
the INS Houston District Office and the INS Central Region. This assumption was misguided. Unfortunately, the INS largely
special agent did not mention IDENT. between Resendez and his family and his prior indictments. crashed, and he therefore was unable to determine whether a lookout for
1999, he pled guilty in federal court to theft of government funds. meeting with Carter on March 4. Rangers linked Resendez as the alleged murderer of Dr. Benton and Mr. and Mrs. Sirnic. nothing unusual about him and described him as quiet, respectful, and unobtrusive. after his arrest on August 18, 1995, in San Bernardino for trespassing on railroad
that an alien who was not physically present could be enrolled in IDENT. These agents were not
but did not find anything. about IDENTs lookout database at the time.34. The
B. Central Region forwarded the report to INS Headquarters, as it typically did with all such
Juliano ran an NCIC printout on Resendez, which showed Resendezs criminal history. Customs Service, but the detectives responded that they already had done so. Saltarelli said
But I'm tired of people using cases like hers as political props to try to justify many of Donald Trump's offensive statements, including labeling Latino immigrants as criminals, rapists and drug dealers. Because
wanted poster. Resendez in any INS database. The son of one of his elderly female victims was also present. memorandum to explain her actions in the matter at the request of her supervisor. to his birth certificate, Resendez was born on August 1, 1959, in Izucar de Matamoros,
When questioned about this alleged conversation with the task force agent, Macha did
The Customs agent said that while he was querying TECS, the NCIC database
On December 16, 1998, Dr. Claudia Benton was murdered in her home in West University
WEST FRANKFORT Every time Benton put a run on the scoreboard Monday in River-to-River Conference Ohio Division softball action, West Frankfort answered. Saltarelli told the OIG that during his meeting
He officially resigned
to find Resendez. important concepts. The Customs Service
190 questions about the crime scene. On May 28, 1999, the FBI entered the UFAP warrant into NCIC. We also
internal hold on Resendez. Broderick said he did not recall receiving any response from Juliano to his offer to
and 4) miscellaneous recommendations to address other issues we found in this review. Houston to capture Resendez and also placed him on its list of Ten Most Wanted
television show Americas Most Wanted. However, they said that their main
comparison. driving a stolen vehicle and released on bond. She died on December 17, 1998 in West University Place, Texas, USA. A Review of the INS's Actions and the Operation of, Its IDENT Automated Fingerprint Identification System. warrant for Resendezs arrest, and the local and state police mounted an extensive
Latino LGBTQ+ leaders in Houston are divided on gender-neutral terms such as Latinx and Latine, with some lauding them as beacons of inclusivity and others criticizing their usage. Although we found that the Border Patrol agents made some mistakes in how they processed
investigating his whereabouts. Railroad Killer gets date with death for 1998 West U murder. Intelligence Office employees read the information about Resendez in the report and
Texas law enforcement agencies. Judge William Harmon denied a request by attorneys, including a representative of the Mexican government, to delay setting the date while his case continued to be appealed to the 5th Circuit Court. The available records indicate that
The Customs agent did not recall what, if anything, he told Macha
conjunction with local United States Attorneys Offices, set a threshold
a motel parking lot in San Antonio, Texas, near railroad tracks. Attorneys, review these inconsistencies and determine whether more uniform policies on
studies, the INS began implementing IDENT in 1994, first along the Southwest Border and
checkpoints and ports of entry. illegal aliens who cross the border between ports of entry. On each of these seven occasions, Border Patrol agents enrolled Resendez in
Dr. Bentons murder received widespread publicity in Houston and elsewhere. According to Carter, on March 1,
also described the four murders for which he was a suspect the murder in West
apprehensions. Give your pooch a comfy place to nap at a discount. Saltarelli said he received verbal approval from the acting Deputy Assistant District
The State
record and photograph. in IDENT to other INS text-based systems. established in any of the places he was apprehended in order for him to be detained and
number of apprehensions for illegal entry after which the alien should be prosecuted for
smuggler), Border Patrol agents should request a records check on the aliens in other INS
For
However,
Plasket about Carters request to place an internal hold on Resendez,
A-file for her. District Office and statistical information about Houston INS activities, such as the
there was a lookout for Resendez, and apparently no one followed up on whether the lookout
Rodriguezs [Resendezs] fingerprints to the Western Identification Network
It also stated that the
police told us that information in IDENT about Resendezs border crossings would have
home, including a Jeep that was recovered the next day in a motel parking lot near San
ten-prints that she had obtained from the Carson County Sheriffs
1976. practices. Houston several times in early 1999 seeking assistance in the search for Resendez. The Texas Ranger met with this special
the task force, INS and FBI agents sent a notice about Resendez to Border Patrol
queried against a name and numeric identifier (such as a date of birth), TECS
C. The Police Contact Houston INS Investigators About
The Houston intelligence officer told the OIG that in response he
Resendez case has spurred the FBI and the INS, at the direction of Congress and under the
Claudia Banton, 42, appeared in court Friday one day after the Georgia woman was charged with murder and criminal possession of a weapon for allegedly shooting Delia Johnson in the back of the. The officer provided this information to the FBI task
According to court records, Maturino Resendiz bludgeoned Claudia Benton with a bronze statue in her home in December 1998 and raped her as she lay dying. IDENT also can assist investigators by providing information documenting an aliens
Typically, he did not serve the full sentence before being released from prison and
addition, an FBI profiler examining the murders of Dr. Benton and Mr. and Mrs.
Mrs. useful if Resendez was apprehended attempting to enter the United States by presenting
Andy Kahan, director of the Mayors Assistance Office for victims of violent crimes, witnessed the proceedings. According to the Assistant Special Agent in Charge (ASAC) of the Houston FBI office,
outstanding warrant for him before they returned him to Mexico. this conversation, she acknowledged that Macha wanted information about putting a
Although the Texas Ranger did not
An undocumented immigrant murdered my mother. placed a lookout for Resendez in its database. warrant charging Resendez with burglary was issued by a Harris County judge on January 5
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