The University Daily Kansan
Section A·Page 5
Resendez-Ramirez corralled at last
Implicated in eight murders the fugitive gave himself up
The Associated Press
EL PASO, Texas — Rafael Resendez-Ramirez,
the train-riding fugitive suspected of killing
eight people, surrendered at a border check-
point yesterday in a deal brokered by his sister.
The 39-year-old drifter, who is charged or wanted for questioning in the slayings in three states and was on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted Fugitives List, surrendered at the Ysleta port of entry to Texas Rangers Sgt. Drew Carter, state investigators said.
"Carter told me that he extended his hand, they shook hands, and they handcuffed him. He was very pleasant, not aggressive," said state Department of Public Safety Capt. Bruce Castele.
He said he didn't know how long Resendez-
Ramirez had been in Mexico.
He appeared briefly before a magistrate, saying only "no, sir" twice when asked if he had questions. The suspect was escorted into the courtroom in handcuffs and a chain around his waist.
The surrender agreement with Resendez Ramirez included assurances of family visitation rights, a psychological evaluation and promises that he would be safe in Jail, Casteel said.
However, it does not shield Resendez-Ramirez from the death penalty, he said.
The suspect's real name is Angel Leonco Reyes Recendis, according to a birth certificate, but authorities had been using the name Resendez-Ramirez, one of his aliases.
Ramirez's sister, who lives in Albuquerque, N.M., called Carter on Sunday while he was on a fishing trip and said she had been in touch with her brother through an intermediary, said Mike Cox, state Department of Public Safety spokesman.
Carter, an FBI agent and a deputy U.S. marshal, met with her Sunday night and Monday to negotiate the surrender on a burglary warrant related to one of the slayings.
Ressendez-Ramirez's ability to elude officials had been an embarrassment to law enforcement. On June 2, he was released by Border Patrol agents, even though he was already wanted by the FBI. Houston police told the immigration service they wanted him for questioning in a murder. Border Patrol agents had picked him up for illegal entry and sent him
back to Mexico.
But Immigration Commissioner Doris Melssner said the Immigration and Naturalization Service, parent of the Border Patrol, had multiple entries on Resendez-Ramirez in a computerized photo and fingerprint database that provides immediate identification of aliens apprehended by the Border Patrol.
The Immigration and Naturalization Service first encountered Resendez-Ramirez in 1976 after he was arrested in Michigan. He was returned to Mexico, but since then, he has been deported from the United States three times — in 1985, 1987 and 1991. He also was apprehended by Border Patrol agents eight times since January 1998.
Two days after that release, he allegedly killed a 73-year-old woman west of Houston. The following day, authorities believe he killed a 26-year-old Houston schoolteacher at her home. His fingerprints also were found June 15 in Gorham, III., at the murder scene of a 79-year-old man and his 51-year-old daughter.
Meissner said the Justice Department inspector general should look at why Resendez-Ramirez was not detained and whether INS knew about Resendez-Ramirez's criminal activities after being contacted by local law enforcement earlier this year.
Kansas governor may propose budget cut
TOPEKA — Gov. Bill Graves is preparing to propose budget cuts next year, and his staff has told agencies to find ways to reduce spending by 6 percent.
The Associated Press
Graves and his staff are in the early stages of drafting a proposed budget for the state's 2001 fiscal year, which doesn't begin until July 1, 2000. Therefore, cuts are far from certain.
However, the state finished its 1999 fiscal year on June 30 with $70 million less in tax revenues for its general fund than expected. Directions from the Budget Division to executive branch agencies are a sign that the Graves administration doesn't expect a dramatic improvement.
spending.
"We think it's only prudent for state agencies to anticipate that there could be some belt-tightening," Graves said during a recent interview.
The decision by Graves' staff to tell agencies to propose spending cuts is likely to kick off an early debate among legislators about the budget and where to reduce
Legislators ended their 1999 session amidst speculation that the state would not have extra revenue for new programs or significant tax cuts in 2000. None of them had talked about significant cuts.
"It's an eye-opener, isn't it?" said Senate Majority Leader Tim Emert, R-Independence. "I hope the budget people are overdramatizing the situation just to be cautious."
"It seems a little drastic for a reaction right now. We're still going to have to see where we are on income and revenue for the state of Kansas before we start looking at cutting budgets," said House Minority Leader Jim Garner, D-Coffeville.
"This state has survived tight budget years before, and we'll survive this one," said House Majority Leader Kent Glasscock, R-Manhattan.
During the 1980s, revenue short falls automatically triggered talk of proposed tax increases to finance government services. However, the 1990s saw the rise of
"A tax increase would be the farther thing from my mind," said House Speaker Robin Jennison, R-Healy. "I think that we ought to be able to find the room (for spending cuts)."
conservative Republicans who believed government was too big and it needed to be reduced.
The Budget Division told agencies to prepare three budget proposals. The first was a reduced resources budget, the one under which agencies are supposed to find 6 percent to cut. Agencies also must submit a current resources budget, and a budget with new and expanded programs.
The agencies are supposed to respond to the Budget Division by Sept. 15. Graves won't make his final decisions until late November or early December.
The governor noted the state has had five financially good years in which he and the Legislature could deliver both spending increases and significant tax cuts.
"It's possible that fiscal year 2001 budget will be sort of a timeout budget," Graves said.
Senate President Dick Bond said the Budget Division's directions are prudent.
"At this point, you have to anticipate that we'll be cutting budgets during the 2000 session," said Bond, R-Overland Park.
When the state finished its 1999 budget year with $70 million less than expected in tax revenues for its general fund, most of the shortfall was in individual income tax collections. The general fund is the single largest source of money for state government programs, and it is where the state deposits most of its tax revenues.
Officials, including Budget Director Duane Goossen, believe the state overestimated income growth, and underestimated the effects of tax cuts enacted in 1998.
That assessment and talk of budgget cuts are likely to cause some legislators, agency managers, and interest groups to ask whether the state was too aggressive in cutting taxes in 1995-98.
But Jennison said, "You know as I well as I do, if we wouldn't have reduced the taxes, we'd have spent the money."
Murder charges filed for ValuJet airplane crash
The Associated Press
It was not clear what penalties the company, SabreTech Inc., would face if convicted.
MIAMI — The airline maintenance company that packaged the oxygen canisters blamed for the 1996 ValuJet crash that killed 110 people in the Florida Everglades was charged with murder and manslaughter yesterday.
Federal indictments were also expected yesterday naming SabreTech employees involved in the packaging of the illegal cargo, Justice Department sources told The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity.
It is believed to be the first time in U.S. aviation history that criminal charges were filed against maintenance workers after an accidenta
airplane crash, said Mike Boyd, president of the Evergreen, Colo-based Mike Boyd Group, which researches aviation issues.
SabreTech said prosecutors ignored findings that the accident was caused by mistakes by ValuJet, SabreTech and the Federal Aviation Administration.
"We are not going to stand idly by and be made a criminal scapegoat for this tragedy," said Kenneth Quinn, attorney for SabreTech. "This was an horrific accident, not a crime."
Murder or manslaughter charges against corporations are extremely rare. In a 1985 Illinois case, two corporations were found guilty of involuntary manslaughter and reckless conduct in the cyanide death of a worker. Three former executives
also were found guilty of murder.
The third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter charges brought against SabreTech do not require proof of premeditation or intent.
Flames from a cargo fire burned inside the floor of the passenger cabin shortly after takeoff on a Miami-to-Atlanta flight on May 11, 1996. The DC-9 plunged into the Everglades, virtually obliterating the aircraft and killing 105 passengers and five crew members.
Crash investigators found that workers for SabreTec, ValuJet's maintenance contractor, improperly packaged the oxygen canisters that were loaded into the jetliner's cargo hold.
A cockpit voice tape made in the flight's final minutes recorded
sounds of shouting from the passenger cabin, including a man saying, "We're on fire. We're on fire." The pilot told the airport control tower, "We need to go back to Miami," and a flight attendant said, "We need oxygen. We can't get oxygen back there."
The National Transportation Safety Board investigation spread the blame among SabreTech, ValuJet and the FAA for lax oversight.
Relatives of the victims pushed for criminal charges against SabreTech and ValuJet executives, complaining that too much time had passed without action.
The FAA has proposed a record fine of $2.25 million against SabreTech for improperly handling the canisters. The company is challenging the fine.
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