Casefile True Crime - Case 230: Rubí Frayre & Marisela Escobedo

Episode Date: November 5, 2022

When 16-year-old Rubí Frayre went missing from the Mexican city of Juarez, police showed little interest. Exasperated, Rubí's mother, Marisela Escobedo, took it upon herself to uncover the truth about her daughter’s fate.  --- Narration – Anonymous Host Research & writing – Holly Boyd Creative direction – Milly Raso Production and music – Mike Migas Music – Andrew D.B. Joslyn Sign up for Casefile Premium: Apple Premium Spotify Premium Patreon For all credits and sources please visit casefilepodcast.com/case-230-rubi-frayre-marisela-escobedo

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Learn more at thinkshinricks.ca Our episodes deal with serious and often distressing incidents. If you feel at any time you need support, please contact your local crisis centre. For suggested phone numbers for confidential support, please see the show notes for this episode on your app or on our website. On Sunday December 12, 2010, 52-year-old Maricela Escobedo stood in Chihuahua City's main square, Plaza Hidalgo, surrounded by news camera crews and reporters. In view of the government palace, where the executive officers of the state governor were

housed, Maricela based a bombardment of questions. The mother of five, business owner and night nurse, responded to each one matter of factly. Yes, he's still in Mexico. Yes, I've had threats made against me. No, I won't be going into hiding. Despite everything, Maricela remained defiant. If this man is going to kill me, she announced, let him come and kill me here. By December 2008, it had been several months since anyone had heard from Ruby Freire. The 16-year-old lived in an apartment in the Mexican city of Juarez that was owned by her mother, Maricela Escobedo. Maricela had offered the residence to her daughter rent-free,

as while Ruby sought independence, she was struggling financially. Maricela initially thought Ruby hadn't been in touch because she couldn't afford to pay her phone bill and had lost access to the service. But as time wore on, Maricela's concerns grew. She sent her elder son, Juan, to visit Ruby and check up on her. He was surprised to find her apartment completely bare. 22-year-old Sergio Barraza was at his mother's house when there was a knock at the door. It was Maricela Escobedo. Sergio had been employed as a laborer at the workshop Maricela co-ran with her partner Jose Monge. He was also dating Maricela's daughter, Ruby. A few months earlier in late August, Sergio had taken a week off work. He'd told Maricela that

he needed to care for his father who had been injured in a road accident. Weeks later, Sergio resigned. Now that Ruby was missing, Maricela figured her boyfriend might know a thing or two about her daughter's whereabouts. Yet, Sergio claimed that he hadn't seen Ruby since November, saying that she had run off with some tall white guy in a black car. Maricela gazed beyond where Sergio was standing and looked into his house. A lump rose in her throat. She could see Ruby and Sergio's 15-month-old daughter. Maricela knew Ruby would never willingly leave her child and was certain something bad must have happened. In the city of Juarez, anything was possible. Criminal groups known as cartels sought control of the city as it boarded the U.S.

state of Texas. By 2008, the conflict had reached the boiling point. Gang violence engulfed the city as the incumbent Juarez cartel, known for decapitating and mutilating its rivals, fought off Sinaloa cartel, run by notorious drug lord El Chapo. Law-abiding citizens were caught in the crossfire and often fell victim to wider organized crimes such as racketeering and human trafficking. Fearing the worst for her daughter, Maricela Escobedo went to file a missing person report. The police refused to process it, believing Ruby had indeed run away with another man. Unconvinced and undeterred, Maricela began her own search. She bravely ventured into the city's most dangerous neighborhoods, scouring nightclubs and brothels,

while putting up posters and pressing passers-by for information. After almost a month of desperate and dogged searching, Maricela finally received a worthwhile tip-off. On Tuesday, January 27, 2009, a 17-year-old boy named Angel Veyes contacted Maricela, offering to tell her everything he knew. Angel was clearly terrified when speaking with Maricela. He trembled as he detailed what had happened one evening in late August 2008. Angel was hanging out with a group of friends when Sergio Barrasa and his brother Andy arrived. Sergio boasted that he had just killed his girlfriend, burnt her body, and then dumped her remains, quote, with the pigs.

When Maricela initially questioned Sergio about Ruby's disappearance, he had told her that Ruby had run off with some tall white guy in a black car. It was a familiar lie. On a previous occasion, Maricela had entered her workshop looking for Ruby, and upon querying Sergio, he told her that Ruby had run away with a tall white man in a black car. Maricela accepted Sergio's word and made note of it in a missing person's report. Ruby then reappeared the following morning in tears. As detailed by Mexican news magazine, Proceso, it was at this point that Maricela discovered that Sergio had been grooming her daughter since Ruby was 14 years old. Sergio, who was then married

and had a five-year-old daughter, had convinced Ruby to run away with him. He kept her hidden in a warehouse a few blocks from his apartment. Upon realizing she had actually been abandoned by Sergio, Ruby returned home to her mother devastated. After this incident, Maricela fired Sergio and kept a close eye on Ruby. But Sergio didn't give up and tracked Ruby down at her school. In early May of 2006, he persuaded Ruby to move in with him. Maricela tried to convince her daughter to leave Sergio, who smashed the windshield of Maricela's car in retaliation. Given the age of consent in the state of Chihuahua was 18, Maricela considered reporting Sergio for statutory rape. However, she understood that Sergio's control

over Ruby ensured that her daughter would never testify against him. Then in October, Ruby discovered she was pregnant. Not wanting to damage her relationship with her daughter any further, Maricela changed tactics. She provided Sergio and Ruby with a rent-free apartment, rehired Sergio at the workshop, and offered to pay for all pre- and post-natal expenses. During her pregnancy, Ruby spent most of her time with her mother, and the two became close. But after Ruby gave birth, Sergio began the process of isolating her from her family. As the months passed, Maricela saw less and less of Ruby, and after waving goodbye to Ruby on Friday, August 22, 2008, Maricela never saw her again. Maricela was devastated after hearing

Angel Veys' story implicating Sergio in her daughter's murder. She went home and informed her other children what had happened to their sister, resolving to never rest until she brought Sergio Baraza to justice. Maricela convinced a wary unheld to repeat his story to the authorities, and with that, an investigation into Ruby Freire's disappearance finally began. It brought with it a startling revelation. On August 30, the previous year, Sergio Baraza's stepfather had personally attended the police station to report Ruby's murder. He said that Sergio had used his van to transport Ruby's body. Police officers visited Sergio's house, but upon finding no evidence of a murder having

been committed there, they completely dismissed Sergio's stepfather's claims, and didn't pursue the matter any further. By the time all this came to light, Sergio was long gone. He'd fled the state of Chihuahua, taking Ruby's now 20-month-old daughter with him. At the time, any movement of a child across state lines required the consent of the mother. As Ruby was not officially listed as deceased, Sergio had effectively abducted their child. The abduction prompted a separate ministerial investigation, though it was Maricela's own detective work that tracked Sergio down to the city of Fresno, some 1,100 kilometers away. Sergio was promptly arrested, and Maricela was given custody of her granddaughter.

While being transferred back to Juarez for the crime of abduction, Sergio made a spontaneous confession. He told the ministerial police officers that Ruby had been unfaithful to him, and in retaliation, he'd beaten her to death. With the help of his brother, Andy Baraza, Sergio transported Ruby's body in his stepfather's van to a landfill on the outskirts of Juarez. Bones and fat from animal carcasses were routinely dumped there, so the men believed it to be the ideal spot to burn Ruby's body. Sergio directed the ministerial police officers to the exact location of the pyre, where they uncovered 39 charred human bones that were confirmed to be the remains of Ruby Friaray.

Sergio Baraza's trial for the murder of Ruby Friaray commenced in April 2010, the now-18-year-old Angel Veyes bravely testified against Sergio in court. He described the moment Sergio bragged about having killed Ruby before burning and dumping her remains. A ministerial police officer who arrested Sergio maintained that Sergio was solely responsible for what happened to Ruby, as she was found guilty of the murder. Sergio was solely responsible for what happened to Ruby, as she was found in the exact location and the exact manner Sergio had described. In an unexpected about face, Sergio's stepfather told the court that Sergio hadn't confessed to him that he'd killed Ruby, despite him

saying so to police shortly after it happened. He was now claiming that Sergio had only confessed to assaulting Ruby. Some believed the man had changed his story to protect Sergio. In emotional testimony, Maricela Escobedo said that the defendant had destroyed her heart, her hope, and her faith, but not her life. She pledged that one day her family would smile again because life demands it. Maricela explicitly entrusted Sergio's faith into the hands of the court and concluded her testimony by addressing Sergio directly. May God forgive you, because I don't. Sergio Baraza chose not to testify. He did, however, take the opportunity to respond to Maricela, as was his right under Mexican law.

In front of the three presiding judges, Sergio acknowledged Maricela's lack of forgiveness and apologized to her for the great harm caused. He said that he'd found God while in jail on remand, but that otherwise, he had no words. After three days of court proceedings, the judges retired to deliberate. Maricela told reporters that she would accept nothing less than the maximum sentence for her daughter's murderer. The unanimous verdict was read aloud. For the murder of Ruby Freire, Sergio Baraza was found not guilty. After both literally and figuratively picking herself up off the floor, Maricela Escobedo appealed to the state's higher court, claiming that the trial's original three judges had made

serious errors of law in reaching their decision. The appeal also highlighted the deficiencies in the investigation itself, particularly the little effort made by authorities to examine anything beyond the evidence and witnesses that Maricela herself uncovered. They hadn't even bothered to track down unhell of Veys' friends, who had also witnessed Sergio bragging about Ruby's murder. It was also found that the murder trial judges had incorrectly disregarded unhell's testimony, as he say, when it should have been considered circumstantial evidence. Despite Ruby's remains having been found dumped and burnt, the original judges had focused on the lack of a formal cause of death to conclude that no homicide had been committed. In contrast,

the appeal court said it was a certainty that Ruby had been murdered. While the state appellate court supported the judge's original decision to disregard Sergio's confession to police, as it was given without a lawyer present, they determined that Sergio's in court apology to Maricela Escobedo should have been considered a confession, as it was in the presence of his lawyer. In late May 2010, the appeal court overturned the acquittal. Sergio Baraza was found guilty of the murder of Ruby Freire and sentenced to 50 years in prison. The sentence was meaningless. Before the appeal court handed down its decision, Sergio, still a free man at this point, once again fled the state of Chihuahua. His whereabouts were unknown.

Fueled by frustration and anger, Maricela Escobedo quit her nursing job and left her workshop business to join forces with a human rights defence group called Justice for Daughters. Alongside her family and other group members, Maricela began a crusade for justice. She marched on the country's capital of Mexico City, armed with life-sized photographs of Ruby, banners demanding justice, and wanted posters featuring Sergio Baraza. Covering nearly 1,800 kilometres, Maricela met with city and town officials along the way to explain her case and request that they turn over Sergio should he be found within their limits. She drew media attention in any way she could, even walking naked with the

just a banner wrapped around her body. Maricela told reporters that she was marching against the systemic impunity for those who commit violence against women. Soon, the case of Ruby Freire became the latest symbol of the growing femicide epidemic in Mexico. After nearly four weeks of daily marching, Maricela finally arrived in Mexico City, where she requested an audience with President Felipe Calderón. He refused to see her. Upon her return to Juarez, Maricela was dismayed to discover that, although Sergio was a convicted murderer and a wanted fugitive, the authorities had done absolutely nothing to locate him.

Once again, she was forced to take matters into her own hands. Acting on a hunch, she returned to Fresno, the city where she had previously found Sergio when he was on the run in June 2009. It didn't take long for Maricela to learn where he was living now. She informed authorities and on Tuesday, July 13, 2010, they descended on the property. Despite the dozens of heavily armed state, federal and military police, Sergio was able to escape out the rear of the house before disappearing into the night. Months passed and the authorities made zero effort to pick up Sergio's trail. It was left to Maricela to hunt down her daughter's killer.

By now, rumours were circulating that Sergio was under the protection of the state's cartel, Los Zetas. In time, Maricela began receiving veiled threats, including from Sergio's brother, Andy Baraza. Pressing forward irrespective of the danger, Maricela eventually discovered Sergio's whereabouts. As she suspected, he hadn't left Fresno. When Maricela approached the house, a young woman opened the door. The girl said she was Sergio's girlfriend and that he was indeed a member of Los Zetas. Maricela now understood why the Fresno authorities were unwilling to arrest Sergio. In 2010, Los Zetas was the largest cartel in Mexico, described by the United States Drug Enforcement Administration as the most technologically advanced, sophisticated and

violent cartel. Los Zetas controlled the majority of the country's states. As far as the Fresno authorities were concerned, Sergio Baraza, who had risen rapidly through the ranks of Los Zetas, was untouchable. Despite this revelation, Maricela refused to back down. She had spent two years fighting for justice and had taken an immense toll on her health and well-being. But this didn't dissuade her from commencing a sit-in vigil in Chihuahua City's main square, Plaza Hidalgo, directly in front of the government palace. Starting on December 5, 2010, Maricela vowed to remain in the plaza until Sergio Baraza was arrested. She aimed to garner the attention of the new state governor,

Cesar Duarte, who'd been elected on the promise that he'd bring order to Chihuahua. For days, Maricela sat in the plaza surrounded by posters and banners denouncing the lack of justice for her daughter. She was supported by a procession of family, friends, and fellow human rights defenders. Then, on December 8, Maricela confronted Governor Duarte in front of the government palace, calling him out on his failures and embarrassing him in front of the media. In response, a visibly annoyed Duarte invited Maricela to speak directly with the state attorney general, Carlos Salas. Maricela accepted the offer, and in the meeting, she told Salas all she had uncovered regarding Sergio Baraza's whereabouts, links to Los Zetas, and the ineffective policing

that allowed him to roam free. Salas assured Maricela that action would be taken. Maricela then resumed her peaceful protest in front of the government palace as a constant reminder to Duarte and Salas to make good on their promise. One week into her sit-in, Maricela told reporters that she had received many threats from Sergio's family and the cartel, including that Los Zetas do not forgive nor forget, and failure to abide by their rules would cost her her life. Maricela refused to go into hiding. Instead, she continued to call out the government's continued inaction.

What are they waiting for? she asked. For him to finish me? Maricela then threw down the only gauntlet she had left. She announced that if Sergio Baraza wanted her dead, then he would have to do it right in front of the governor's palace, to the shame of the bureaucrats that worked behind its doors. Four days later, on the evening of Thursday, December 16, 2010, Maricela and her brother Ricardo were quietly sitting in protest at a table set up at the front edge of the plaza. Just after 8pm, a white sedan pulled up near where Maricela and Ricardo sat. A man dressed in light trousers and a dark top slipped out of the passenger side of the car.

After taking a few steps, he stood directly behind Maricela. The man pulled out a 9mm pistol, pressed it against Maricela's head, and fired. The gun jammed. Maricela leapt from her seat and took off. Ricardo grabbed his own chair and threw it at the gunman, just as Maricela sprinted across two lanes of moving traffic towards the perceived safety of the government palace. The gunman caught up to her just before she reached the other side of the road. In mid-stride, he raised his gun to the back of Maricela's head again and pulled the trigger. There was no obstruction this time. Maricela collapsed to the ground directly in front

of the government palace's entrance. The gunman scrambled back into the white sedan and it sped off into the night. Traffic slowed only for a moment before moving on. A pedestrian within meters of Maricela's prone bleeding body turned briefly to observe what had taken place, then continued onwards on their journey. The only person who seemed to care about what had happened was Ricardo, who banged desperately on the locked doors of the government palace, screaming for help. In the wake of the public outcry and condemnation that followed Maricela Escobedo's murder, authorities were quick to blame Sergio Baraza for orchestrating the assassination.

Chihuahua governor, Cesar Duarte, told reporters that he was filled with frustration and indignation and called for the judges who had initially acquitted Sergio to be sacked. President Felipe Calderón likewise tweeted, It is unfortunate that the Chihuahua judges released the confessed murderer of Ruby. That impunity led to the murder of Maricela Escobedo. Hours after Maricela's funeral, the workshop that she ran with her partner, Jose Monje, was destroyed by fire. Jose's brother Manuel, who had been looking after the shop, was missing. Manuel was found dead the following day. His hands and feet were bound with duct tape and a plastic

bag was pulled tight over his head. The official response was that Manuel's murder was not linked to Maricela's. Yet Maricela's oldest son, Juan, knew what was. In the Netflix documentary, The Three Deaths of Maricela Escobedo, Juan recalled how people had also come looking for him that day. He realized then that as long as he and his family remained in Mexico, their lives were in danger. Leaving everything they'd worked for behind, three generations of Escobedos fled across the border into the United States that very night. Back in Juárez, less than three months after Maricela and Manuel's murders, six men burst into a home and shot dead at the three adults inside.

The offenders, all barely out of their teens, fled immediately after the shooting. Their victims were the now 20-year-old Angel Veyes, his father, and his aunt. A year and a half later, in October 2012, Chihuahua authorities announced that they had arrested Maricela Escobedo's killer. The man they named was 30-year-old lifelong gang member Jose Jimenez, known as El Wicked. El Wicked was already in custody for the massacre of Maricela Escobedo's 16 people in a bar in Chihuahua six months earlier. A gun used in this crime was matched to the one used to execute Maricela. According to the authorities, El Wicked had confessed to carrying out the hit on Maricela under joint instructions from the Juárez cartel and a loss of Zetas.

Maricela had become too much of a nuisance for them. This revelation was just another slap in the face of Maricela's loved ones, served by a government they regarded as corrupt and apathetic. In an exclusive interview with Mexican news magazine Proceso, Juan expressed his opinion that El Wicked was merely a high-ranking cartel scapegoat whose arrest enabled the government to close his mother's case. Juan explained that his uncle Ricardo remembered the man who murdered Maricela and that man was not El Wicked. When shown a photo lineup of known gang members, Ricardo recognized one man as Maricela's killer with 100% certainty. The photo was of Sergio Barraza's brother, Andy.

He had previously been accused of helping Sergio dispose of Ruby Friar's body. Ricardo had never seen Andy Barraza prior to the night of Maricela's murder, but he never forgot his face. Juan and Ricardo had passed this information to the authorities, but were ignored. After naming Andy Barraza as Maricela's killer, Juan then went one step further and openly accused the Chihuahua government of complicity in his mother's death. He explained that Maricela effectively signed her own death warrant when she revealed all of her information to the Attorney General, Carlos Salas. It was also discovered that in addition to the usual 24-hour security personnel that routinely patrolled the government palace, a personal security detail had been promised to

Maricela. However, when the doors of the government palace closed at 8pm on December 16, 2010, Maricela was shot minutes later with no security staff inside. According to Juan, the area had been intentionally cleared, and Andy Barraza knew he would not be interrupted. On Friday, November 16, 2012, four members of Los Zetas were killed in an armed clash with the Mexican army. Among those killed was Sergio Barraza. Eight days later, Governor Cesar Duarte announced that with Sergio dead and El Wicked in custody, the cases of Ruby Friarra and Maricela Escobedo were officially closed. However, as his trial approached, El Wicked retracted his confession to Maricela's murder.

He said it had been made under torture and threats against his wife and children. These claims, along with Ricardo's identification that Andy Barraza carried out the slaying, meant that the prosecution could have a difficult time convicting El Wicked for Maricela's murder. On Wednesday, December 31, 2014, before his trial commenced, El Wicked was found dead in prison. The authorities initially said he had died from a heart attack, but were later forced to admit that El Wicked had been strangled to death by another inmate, who had somehow gained access to his cell. By January 2015, all the members of the Escobedo family who had escaped into America had been granted permanent political asylum. The immigration judge who ruled in favor of Juan's

application specifically stated that, the Mexican government is unable or unwilling to control actors who persecute human rights defenders. In October 2020, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights announced that it would give Mexico three months to provide its response to the Escobedo's complaints of human rights violations in relation to the murders of Ruby and Maricela, before the Commission considered the case. The Escobedo's hoped that one day soon, Mexico would be held publicly and internationally responsible for these human rights violations. By December 2020, shortly after the Commission's announcement and the release of the Netflix documentary The Three Deaths of Maricela Escobedo, both the governor of Chihuahua

and the Mexican president announced the reopening of Maricela Escobedo's murder investigation. That same year, Andy Baraza, in prison in Texas for unrelated crimes, gave an exclusive interview to the makers of the Netflix documentary. Andy openly admitted that Sergio, who had gained senior ranking within Los Zetas, had organized the hit on Maricela and the arson attack on her workshop. Andy denied killing Maricela. As of 2022, the investigation into Maricela's murder is still ongoing. It has been more than a decade, and each year since, all across Mexico,

citizens continue to march against what they perceive as government-sanctioned impunity granted to perpetrators of violence against women. Maricela is one of their symbols. When speaking at his mother's funeral, Juan Escobedo said, she fought to her last breath and died on the front lines. My mom was a hero because she did things that no one in the city had ever done. She fought on her own against rain and thunder. Even when she seemed like she would break down, she got up again and taught us a lesson in fortitude. I ask all of you to give my mom a big round of applause.

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