Murder of Mark Kilroy

Throughout the night of the 15th, Constanza tortured and sodomized Kilroy. He was then led out to the field, where Constanzo killed him by chopping the back of his neck and head with a machete. His brain was then boiled in a nganga, an African metal pot that Constanzo used to stew human and animal remains. Kilroy's legs were chopped off above his knees to facilitate his burial. A wire was inserted in his spinal column so that, once the body had decomposed, the bones could be pulled up from the soil easily. The cult members then dug a hole on the grounds and buried Kilroy's corpse.

In an interview with the press in 2014, Serafín and Martínez Salinas gave their versions of the story and proclaimed their innocence. Serafín stated that the Federal Judicial Police commander Juan Benítez Ayala found Serafín guilty because he was related to Elio and Ovidio. He said he was not arrested at the ranch, but rather at Elio's in-law's house in Matamoros. He said he grew up in Houston and moved to Brownsville for college, and that he was in Matamoros visiting his family when he was taken by the police. Serafín said he had been tortured by the Mexican and U.S. police in Matamoros to confess his participation in Kilroy's murder and in the killings at Santa Elena. He said he was allegedly beaten and told that he and his family would be killed if he spoke English during his declaration. He said he was a student of Texas Southmost College and knew who Aldrete was, but did not have any connection with her. Serafín also stated that he had never met Constanzo and had no idea his family ranch was a gathering place for his cult. He said that he had never dug up the bodies and had been taken to the ranch after the bodies were already exhumed.

As of 2009, only two suspects remained at large, Ovidio and Ponce Torres, and were wanted for Kilroy's murder in Mexico.

Aldrete spoke to the press in 2003 and denied her participation in Kilroy's murder and in the cult killings. She stated that it was impossible for investigators to understand what had happened at Santa Elena because the biggest evidence in the case, Constanzo, was dead. Aldrete also stated that the police hid the names of famous people involved with Constanzo for their own convenience. She concluded by stating that she believed in God and was not going to ask society for forgiveness because she was innocent of the crimes. The following year, Aldrete interviewed with the press again and stated that she had been tortured to confess. She said she had been stripped naked, blindfolded, beaten upside down, and then had her toenails yanked. Aldrete claimed she was beaten so severely that doctors told her she would never be able to have children.

In the early 2000s, she published an autobiography where she detailed how she met Constanzo and the group, her experiences when she was allegedly taken hostage by Constanzo, her mistreatment by authorities, and her versions of the story. Aldrete claimed she visited Constanzo in Mexico City and was then taken hostage after Constanzo decided to not let her go because he believed that she would go to the police and tell them where they were hiding. She claimed that Constanzo and the rest of the group were unaware of the killings that occurred in Matamoros until they found out that the police were looking for them, but went into hiding nonetheless because they feared for their lives. She detailed her alleged mistreatment in jail, and how she underwent beatings, psychological torture, rape, and an unfair trial. Her version of Constanzo's death was different than the official one; she stated that Constanzo was executed by the police when they raided the apartment. She also questioned the police's decision to burn down the shack in Santa Elena, since it was crucial for the investigation and probably contained the fingerprints of the murderers.

According to Kilroy's father, the purpose of these summer activities is to keep the youth occupied when they are not in school so they do not get bored and think about consuming drugs. In September 1999, the foundation signed an agreement with the U.S. Federal government to receive ten yearly grants of $100,000. By the tenth year, the government intended to stop the funding and expect the foundation to be self-supporting. However, Kilroy's parents stated that the yearly expenses exceeded $160,000 and that they would need to find new ways to make up the deficit. The Mark Kilroy Foundation was one of the five non-profit organizations in Galveston County that receives proceeds from a bingo place in La Marque, Texas. They also receive proceeds from sales of the book Sacrifice, written by Kilroy's father and Bob Stewart in 1990.

On 27 March 1998, a Mexican federal court reduced the sentences of Elio, Serna Valdez, and Martínez Salinas by 17 years, lowering their sentences from 67 total years to 50. Since the death penalty and life sentences are not part of Mexico's judicial system, reductions for charges that are over 50 years are common. In addition, individuals like the cult members, who were charged with murder and other serious crimes that push the total punishment sum above 50 years for capital murder, often have their sentences reduced by an appeal court. If the individuals were first-time offenders, as the cult members were, an appeals court may determine that it is reasonable to reduce their sentences. Elio was sent to a prison in Ciudad Victoria, Tamaulipas. The other two were sent to Federal Social Readaptation Center No. 1 in Almoloya, State of Mexico.

Two months after Kilroy was confirmed dead, his parents founded the Mark Kilroy Foundation which promotes drug awareness, education, and prevention through the "Just Say No" campaign. Since Kilroy's dream was to become a doctor after college, his parents decided to help others and continue his dream through this program. Since 1994, the foundation has sponsored and worked alongside Substance Abuse Free Environment (SAFE), a non-profit community group that promotes awareness for substance abuse and drug prevention. Both of them partner with the Santa Fe local government, its school system, and the ones nearby, and with businesses and private donors, to provide programs for the entire year. The full-time and part-time counselors visit school campuses during the academic year in Santa Fe and Hitchcock to hold programs for approximately 800 students regularly. When students are gone for the summer, the foundation conducts programs in summer camps by partnering with volunteers. They offer free outdoor activities like archery, golf, fishing, tennis, and swimming. An average of 550 youth participate in these programs every summer.

On 10 June 1993, drug trafficking charges against Ovidio and Ponce Torres were dropped in the U.S without a stated reason. On 3 May 1994, Aldrete was sentenced to 62 years in prison. Cult members Elio, Serafín Jr., Martínez Salinas, and Serna Valdez, received 67 years each. In an interview with the press, Kilroy's parents stated that they were relieved to hear that the cultists were sentenced. The charges were multiple homicide (31 years), possession of narcotics (12 years), involvement in organized crime (5 years), police impersonation (2 years), illegal body desecration (2 years), illegal possession of firearms (10 years), and illegal possession of weapons exclusive to the Mexican Armed Forces (5 years). The Mexican federal judge explained that the reason Aldrete received fewer years in prison than the rest was because she was not charged with using weapons that were military-exclusive, which carries a 5-year maximum sentence. He also stated that the maximum conviction a person in Mexico can receive for capital murder is 50 years. Since Mexico's judicial system does not have parole, it allows for prisoners to file motions at an appeal court to reduce their sentences after several years. Whether this condition is denied or granted, inmates can then push for a writ of amparo.

In August 1990, De León was sentenced to 30 years in prison for killing Constanzo and Quintana Rodríguez. Fragosa and Montes were convicted of a separate murder charge and sentenced to 35 years in prison. Reyes Bustamante, the ranch caretaker, was accused in court of cover-up; he was released from prison on 11 December 1990, after paying a bond of US$500.

On 14 March 1989, University of Texas at Austin student Mark James Kilroy was kidnapped in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico while vacationing during spring break. He was taken by his abductors to a ranch where he was tortured and sodomized for hours before being murdered in a human sacrifice ritual. Kilroy was killed with a machete blow and then had his brain removed and boiled in a pot. His killers then inserted a wire through his spinal column, amputated his legs at the knees, and buried him at the ranch along with 14 other people who had been killed there before him. Adolfo Constanzo, the leader of the cult, told his followers that human sacrifice granted them immunity from law enforcement for their drug smuggling operations. The killing drew worldwide media attention and initiated an international police manhunt because of the unusual circumstances of the crime.

After the bodies were discovered on 11 April 1989, Constanzo fled to Mexico City but was eventually tracked down. As the police surrounded his apartment complex, Constanzo died after ordering one of the cult members to kill him with a machine gun. Sara Aldrete, another high-ranking member of the cult, was arrested at the scene along with several others. In 1993, the cult members were found guilty of a number of charges, including capital murder and drug trafficking. Several of them, however, claimed they were not guilty of Kilroy's murder and told the press they were tortured to confess. Only two suspects remain at large.

On 10 March 1989, Kilroy's childhood friend Bradley Moore finished exams early at Texas A&M University and headed to Austin to pick him up. Both of them then headed to Santa Fe to pick up two other friends, Bill Huddleston and Brent Martin, before heading to South Padre Island, Texas for spring break. After a foggy, 9-hour drive to South Texas, they arrived at South Padre Island shortly before midnight. They checked in at the Sheraton Hotels and Resorts the next morning before heading to the beach. When they first arrived at South Padre Island, there were few people because it was very early in the five-week spring break season. But thousands of students from the entire U.S. were beginning to arrive as the weekend progressed. Beer sponsors were staging a variety of entertainment events, including free movies, music concerts, calls home, surf-simulator activities, and opportunities to appear on TV commercials. Kilroy and Moore made free phone calls to their parents that day. Later that evening, they met a group of female students from Purdue University and partied until the next morning.

The search for Kilroy initially began as a routine missing persons investigation. Students that were reported missing in Matamoros in the past would often turn up in the following days with a hangover and blurry memory of what had happened to them. Kilroy was one of the 60 people who had disappeared in Matamoros in the first three months of 1989. However, his case drew more attention in the U.S. because his uncle, Ken Kilroy, worked at the United States Customs Service in Los Angeles. When the news reached his uncle, a police task force was created in Brownsville to search for Kilroy. Alarmed with the bad publicity of his disappearance and the potential effects of tourism in Matamoros, local police officers tried to shift the blame and suggested that Kilroy had disappeared in Brownsville. Kilroy's friends denied such claims. The Mexican federal police force vowed to work on the case and help U.S. investigators. One of the commanders assigned Mexican agents to U.S. officials to accompany them in Matamoros. Together they questioned informants, potential witnesses, and worked on tips provided by their sources.

The key break in the case came on April 1, 1989. Mexican federales manning a drug interdiction checkpoint saw a vehicle run the roadblock without stopping. The vehicle had crossed the international border from Texas and sped through Mexican Federal Highway 2, which connects Matamoros and Reynosa, Tamaulipas.

On 11 April 1989, the day the bodies were exhumed from Santa Elena, Constanzo fled to a Holiday Inn in Brownsville before flying from McAllen, Texas to Mexico City, where he had an apartment. He escaped with Sara Aldrete, Martín Quintana Rodríguez, Omar Francisco Orea Ochoa, and Álvaro de León Valdés ("El Duby").

U.S. and Mexican law enforcement agencies carried out an international manhunt to locate Constanzo and the rest of his cult members. The police believed that Constanzo had possibly fled to Miami to visit his mother, but Constanzo opted for Mexico City, where he hid with several of his followers for short periods of time. Rumors began to surface that Constanzo was seen in Chicago, Illinois; other rumors suggested that Aldrete was spotted in schools throughout the Rio Grande Valley and that she had vowed to kidnap children for every jailed cult member. A convenience store clerk in Clovis, New Mexico, called the police and told them that he had seen a couple matching the description of Constanzo and Aldrete stopping at his store to purchase something. According to investigators, Constanzo was last seen driving a 1989 Mercedes Benz in Brownsville. In Matamoros, law enforcement raided Aldrete's house, where they discovered an altar and several religious images. They also stated that the house's interior was covered with blood. In the Cameron County sheriff's office, authorities released a wanted poster of Constanzo stating that he was "extremely dangerous", and indicted him and Aldrete for aggravated kidnapping. Both were also indicted by a state jury in McAllen, along with 11 other cult members from Contanzo's organization, for importing marijuana, conspiracy to import marijuana, conspiracy to possess with the intent of distributing, and possession with the intent of distributing. Cameron County officials also issued arrest warrants for the other cult members who were at large. Although none of the leads proved successful, the police encouraged citizens to continue helping them in their search.

The Mexico City police department noticed that the Matamoros killings were similar to murders carried out in Mexico City between 1987 and 1989. After consulting local witchcraft practitioners and sorcerers, the police heard that Constanzo was probably hiding in Cuauhtémoc, one of the city's boroughs. Another contact told the police that there was an address of interest in the Verónica Anzures neighborhood, next to Cuauhtémoc. The police department sent 16 officers to search the area. At a supermarket, they interrogated a shoemaker who claimed to have seen a woman who matched Aldrete's description. The police then spotted a man at the supermarket who was attempting to buy large amounts of groceries with U.S. dollars. They followed the man and saw that he was living at an apartment on Río Sena. By the end of the week, the police concluded that the man was De León and that he was buying groceries for Constanzo. On 6 May 1989, the police surrounded the building and waited for traffic to subside before raiding the premises. However, a black vehicle pulled up in front of the apartment complex and the police walked over to investigate. Constanzo noticed the police from the window of his apartment and opened fire at the officers who were at ground level. Constanzo threw golden coins and paper money from the window, and burned some of his money on a stove. Constanzo eventually ran out of ammunition and began to lose his patience. After about 45 minutes, and worried of his imminent capture, Constanzo ordered De León to kill him and Quintana Rodríguez.

On 27 August 1989, Orea Ochoa was admitted to a hospital in Santa Martha Acatitla [es] after being diagnosed with AIDS. The police said that he and Aldrete were Constanzo's lovers, but that Aldrete showed no signs of the disease in her immune system. He died on 11 February 1990.

On 2 June 1989, Salvador Vidal García Alarcón, a police chief of the Federal Judicial Police, was indicted for drug trafficking. He was linked to Constanzo by Aldrete and other cult members who claimed he acted as the group's contact in the police. Aldrete said that Constanzo told her that he had killed two men to favor García Alarcón. The police chief, however, defended his stance and stated that Alarcón's involvement with Constanzo was merely religious; he said that he was possessed with spirits at a young age and sought Constanzo for help. He was not charged with Kilroy's murder or for any other killings conducted by Constanzo's group.

On the 20th anniversary of their son's murder, Kilroy's parents visited the Rio Grande Valley and Matamoros to thank the people who had supported them in their search for their son. Kilroy's father stated that people were supportive and called the police whenever they saw something suspicious that they thought was related to their son's disappearance. He said that it was easier to overcome their son's death because of the support they received. Kilroy's mother said she received a cross from a Brownsville woman when she was searching for her son in 1989. "It's a reminder every time that I know that the Lord was involved in everything", she said, while she touched and showed the cross around her neck. Helen Kilroy died in 2014 from ALS, aged 70.

On 17 April, Serafín Hernández Rivera Sr., a Brownsville native, was arrested in Houston by DEA and Texas Department of Public Safety agents. Federal charges were filed against him for importing marijuana, possession, and conspiracy. Two other men implicated with him were Quintana Rodríguez and Ponce Torres, both Mexican citizens. As the police searched his Houston home, they seized cash and weapons, but found no evidence of any cult paraphernalia or leads pointing to Constanzo. Houston police believed that Constanzo was probably hiding in Houston because he was linked to a $20 million failed cocaine operation that was busted there in June 1988. When the house was raided, investigators found ritualistic candles, an altar, and paperwork with Rivera's name on it. The police believed that Constanzo bought several properties across Houston in the past and were investigating if he had visited any of his alleged hangouts. Serafín Sr. cooperated with U.S. officials and was sentenced to 18 months in prison. He was released in June 1990 and returned to Brownsville.

The other cult leader was Sara Aldrete, a Matamoros native and an honors student and cheerleader at Texas Southmost College. She was the girlfriend of Gilberto Sosa, a drug dealer linked to the Hernández clan to which Constanzo wanted an introduction. In 1987, she met Constanzo and eventually became the cult's main recruiter. Investigators believed that Aldrete's physical attractiveness and charm helped her lure men to join the cult or to set them up to be abducted and killed. She recruited people by first showing them the 1987 thriller film The Believers, which was about a New York City-based cult that practiced human sacrifice for money and influence. Constanzo's members were forced to see the film again and again in order to indoctrinate them to the necessity of human sacrifice. Students and teachers at her college in Brownsville recalled her as a friendly and studious physical education student who showed no signs of abnormal behavior or involvement with a religious cult. Across the border in Matamoros, however, Aldrete was involved in drug smuggling operations and in cult activities. Some of her former classmates found it suspicious that she drove a 1989 vehicle with an embedded telephone, while others recall she preferred to dress in black. Investigators believed that her proximity to the U.S.-Mexico border allowed Aldrete to keep her two lives separate for years. Because of her contradictory lifestyle, law enforcement believed that Aldrete was living a double life and showed signs and symptoms of having a multiple personality disorder.

Mark James Kilroy was born on 5 March 1968, in Chicago, Illinois, U.S. His parents were James William "Jim" Kilroy, a chemical engineer, and Helen Josephine Kilroy, a volunteer paramedic. They moved to Texas from the Midwest after their son was born. Kilroy grew up in Santa Fe, Texas, a small town outside of Houston, for over 15 years along with his brother Keith Richard Kilroy. He was raised as a Catholic and his parents were frequent attendees at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church in the adjacent town of Hitchcock, Texas. Kilroy excelled both in academics and athletics as a teenager, and played baseball, basketball, and golf with his friends at school. He was in the Boy Scouts of America and an honors student at Santa Fe High School, where he was a member of the student council, and was ranked 14th in a class of 210 students. Upon graduation in 1986, he attended Southwest Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas, before transferring to Tarleton State University in Stephenville, Texas, on a basketball scholarship. At Tarleton he became a member of the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity. He then decided to give up his athletics and transferred to the University of Texas at Austin to become a pre-med student and prepare for his Medical College Admission Test (MCAT).

Kilroy's murderer, Adolfo Constanzo, was a Cuban American who was born in Miami, Florida in 1962. His father died when he was an infant, so his mother relocated to Puerto Rico with him, where she remarried. They returned to Florida in 1972 and his stepfather died soon afterwards, leaving a large inheritance behind. His mother married again, this time with a man who was involved in drug trafficking and the occult. His stepfather taught him a philosophy that Constanzo carried for the rest of his life: he told him that he should let nonbelievers "kill themselves with drugs" while he could profit from their foolishness. Around the same time, Constanzo's mother believed that her son had psychic abilities. She introduced him to Palo Mayombe, an Afro-Caribbean religion that involves animal sacrifice. He also was introduced to Santería when he was younger. He started as a "palero", someone who practices Palo Mayombe, and eventually reached the status of high-priest, "padrino". In 1984, he moved to Mexico City to start his life as a tarot card reader and eventually developed a cult following. His charisma, physical attractiveness (he previously worked as a male model), and claimed psychic talent granted him the opportunity to mingle with Mexico City's upper class. His reputation for predicting the future and offering ritual cleansing became popular with some drug dealers, musicians, and police officers.