A man previously convicted in Texas for sexually assaulting children was arrested in Mexico for the murder of a Texas woman in Matamoros. The murder involved a fake kidnapping that, according to authorities, was part of a scheme to rob the victim while making the crime look like a cartel execution.
This week, agents with the Tamaulipas Attorney General’s Office arrested Braulio Trevino Macias and charged him with one count of murder in the gruesome death of his stepdaughter, 22-year-old Lizeth Rubio. Rubio was a U.S. citizen from South Texas who crossed into Matamoros to see her boyfriend before she went missing.
The murder does not appear to be tied to the cartel that controls Matamoros. It was instead a robbery allegedly led by Trevino Macias–the victim’s stepfather, U.S. law enforcement sources with direct knowledge of the case revealed to Breitbart Texas.
The case began when Rubio received a call from an individual who told her that he and his group had kidnapped her boyfriend and demanded a ransom. Rubio left her home in Los Fresnos, Texas, on August 8 with an undisclosed amount of cash. The victim’s mother claimed her daughter was told that organized crime members kidnapped the boyfriend.
Rubio went missing after crossing into Matamoros for 72 hours until authorities found her brutally beaten body. According to law enforcement sources, the victim’s head was bashed with a rock and her teeth were removed. Since Rubio is a U.S. citizen, her relatives contacted the U.S. Consulate. The FBI is working with Tamaulipas authorities.
While the gruesome murder scene was an apparent attempt to link the case to cartel activity, agents with the Tamaulipas AG’s Office were able to track down Trevino Macias. On Tuesday night, they took him before a judge who formally charged him with murder. Authorities continue to search for two more suspects.
Trevino Macias is a registered sex offender in Texas, having served four years in prison on one charge of child sexual assault and one count of indecency with a child. The sexual assault took place in 2005. Trevino Macias was convicted and sentenced in 2006 and released from a state prison in Huntsville in 2010.
Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at Iortiz@breitbart.com.
Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.
Tony Aranda from Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project contributed to this report
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.