Preliminary hearing begins on murder case

A preliminary hearing began last Wednesday on a murder case involving a former fugitive accused of killing a woman and two of her young children in 2002.

Jorge A. Lopez-Orozco faces first-degree murder charges in the deaths of Rebecca Ramirez and her sons, Miguel and Ricardo.

According to investigators with the county sheriff's department and the FBI, Ramirez and her children were killed sometime between July 30 and Aug. 1 of 2002. Their bodies were located in the remains of a burned-out vehicle near the Snake River on the county's southern border.

Testimony and questioning involving witnesses, family members and forensics experts during the hearing will determine if sufficient evidence exists to bind Lopez-Orozco over to district court to stand trial on the three first-degree murder charges.

Information provided by his family and relatives during testimony earlier this week sought to linked together a series of events that occurred sometime between late July and early August of 2002. Testimony from some witnesses indicated that they knew Lopez-Orozco had allegedly committed the crimes.

Maria Garcia, who identified herself in court as a close friend of the suspect, indicated that Lopez-Orozco had run into "some type of problem" and needed to leave for San Jose, Calif., a few hours ahead of an already scheduled family trip. During additional questioning, Garcia recalled hearing his brother, Simon, say that Lopez-Orozco has been in a fight with another person and that he had shot someone and left them for dead.

Meanwhile, Guadalupe "Lupe" Alvarez, the mother of Ramierez, recalled a phone conversation she had with her daughter in July 2002.

"She made a call saying she was having problems," Alvarez told the prosecutor. "She said, 'Mom they're going to kill me.' "

Alvarez also told prosecutors that she saw a chrome handgun inside a car driven by Lopez-Orozco sometime before the murders.

Additional questioning during both days focused on the handling of the crime scene and collection of forensic evidence that included the recovery of three sets of human remains.

The preliminary hearing for Lopez-Orozco is expected to resume the afternoon of Aug. 3. In addition to closing arguments, the recess gives both legal teams time to review translated transcripts and documents pertinent to the case. Among them is a 4 1/2 audio recording that includes a conversation between investigators and Lopez-Orozco during their drive from Salt Lake City to Mountain Home in March following his extradition to the United States.