Judge scolds killer

Sanchez-Jacobo says legal rights violated by court

By Mara Stine

The Gresham Outlook, Jul 26, 2008, Updated Oct 30, 2009 (22 Reader comments)

Joel Sanchez-Jacobo

Contributed photo

ADVERTISEMENTS

After expressing remorse to a jury that later spared his life, a Mexican citizen who hired hit men to kill two local men did an about face during last week’s sentencing hearing by professing his innocence and railing against the American criminal justice system.

In May, a Multnomah County jury found Joel Sanchez-Jacobo, 31, guilty of two counts of aggravated murder and one count of murder for soliciting two murders in 2006.

But on Friday, July 18, when he appeared before Judge Michael J. McShane to hear his sentence, the man claimed to have been railroaded by his state-appointed attorneys and said his constitutional rights had been violated.

“I am deeply aware that justice has not been served in this case because I stand before this court today as a Mexican citizen who is 100 percent absolutely innocent,” Sanchez-Jacobo said through an interpreter, who read his written statement when he became too overcome with emotion.

“I did not kill these men nor at any time did I order these deaths. … I am here today only because the American justice system has failed to protect my rights.”

An amazed judge passed down the same sentence the jury recommended – life in prison without possibility of parole for the first murder, plus life in prison with a minimum of 25 years for the second murder.

The sentences must be served one after the other, rather than at the same time.

• • •

Prosecutors say Sanchez-Jacobo hired two hit men – Gerardo Vasquez Villagomez, 24, and Jose “Pepe” Zamora-Camacho, 20 – to murder two East County residents. The trial of Vasquez Villagomez and Zamora-Camacho has yet to be scheduled.

Rodolfo Romero-Lopez, 24, was shot in the chest in an outside entryway at his apartment complex in the 15600 block of Southeast Stark Street after using methamphetamine with a friend on May 31, 2006.

Alejandro Sanchez-Hernandez, 31, was shot twice in the head at his triplex in the 1100 block of Northeast 162nd Avenue on July 10 of that year. He was watching a rerun of a World Cup soccer game on television with a friend when he was murdered.

A witness testified that shortly before the first murder, Sanchez-Jacobo threatened to kill him and Romero-Lopez if they didn’t pay him back for allegedly stealing $4,000 worth of narcotics from him. He even had two hired guns with him to prove he was serious. Those hit men were the same two who police later arrested for killing Romero-Lopez and Sanchez-Hernandez.

Prosecutors said Sanchez-Jacobo wanted Sanchez-Hernandez dead for two reasons – to eliminate a rival drug dealer and because he thought he was romantically interested in his wife.

Police found 8 pounds of methamphetamine and $25,000 hidden in the home of Sanchez-Hernandez after the murder, said Jeff Howes, a deputy district attorney who prosecuted the case with fellow deputy district attorney Don Rees.

Detectives immediately noticed similarities in the killings.

Both men were shot at close range in front of witnesses. Also, before each killing, one of the hit men said, “I’m sorry.”

The second victim’s brother lived next door and went outside when he heard gunshots. He saw their cousin Sanchez-Jacobo (their grandfathers were brothers) in his Cadillac Escalade.

1 | 2 Next Page >>