JIMMY HUGHES ARRESTED FOR THE 1981 ALVAREZ TRIPLE EXECUTIONS
by Virginia McCullough
One day I had a contract on a man. They had paid me a lot of money to kill this person. I traveled over many states, and walked into the man’s house one day, pulled out my pistol, and put a bullet in everybody’s head.
Jimmy Hughes, Honduras
The man who wrote and published these words on the Internet currently claims to be a born again Christian who runs children’s shelters in Honduras. A Hit Man With a New Mission by Jimmy Hughes
Apparently Jimmy Hughes has always felt so well protected that he could confess to murders and believed he would never have to pay the penalty. For twenty-eight years he was absolutely correct in his beliefs. It began one quiet night in the desert just outside of Indio, California.
On a summer night on June 29, 1981 three friends relaxed is the backyard of a small stucco home at 35-040 Bob Hope Drive in a desert town appropriately named Rancho Mirage. The three friends sat is a semi-circle, the two men in wooden chairs and the woman on a single bed that served as a lounge chair. They were sharing drinks and stories. The big man was a 32-year-old Indian, a member of the Cabazon tribe whose 1700 acre reservation adjoined the nearby town of Indio, California. His friend was a slightly built white man ten years his senior. The woman had been an acquaintance of both two men and was intently following their conversation.
(Suddenly the peaceful scene was shattered. Three shots rang out. Three friends lay dead.
In the California Daily News on July 2, 1981 staff reporter Paul Zalis reported The three bodies found in an apparent execution-style slaying Wednesday have been identified as Alfred “Fred” Alvarez, 32, Patricia Roberta Castro, 44, of Long Beach and Ralph Arthur Boger, 42, of San Bernardino.
The family of Fred Alvarez had always believed that the head of Cabazon Tribal Security Jimmy Hughes had been involved in the killings. Hughes worked for and reported to “Dr.” John Phillip Nichols, the white manager of the Cabazon Tribe. Yesterday, at the International Airport in Miami, Florida Jimmy Hughes was arrested and detained on a sealed warrant from California charging the 52-year-old man with three counts of murder and one count of conspiracy to commit murder.
Approximately one month ago the California Deputy Attorney General Michael Thomas Murphy, based in San Diego, issued an arrest warrant for Hughes under seal. Riverside County Deputy Sheriff John M. Powers then notified United States Customs to be on the lookout for Hughes who lives in Honduras. About two weeks ago Hughes came back to the U.S. unnoticed by Customs. However, when the wanted man made a reservation on American Airlines to return to Honduras the” red flag request” from California was picked up by Customs who alerted Deputy Sheriff Powers. Powers is the cold case detective who had dedicated almost two years of his life investigating the Alvarez executions.
Powers booked a flight out of Ontario, California to Miami, Florida at 11:00 pm Friday night. Powers said, “Customs and Dade County Sheriff's assisted me and we escorted Jimmy off the plane just minutes before the scheduled departure. He was booked into the Dade County Jail on 12th street (near the airport).” Jimmy Hughes is held as prisoner number 090082914 according to Officer T. Thompson at the pre-trial detention center. Booking has misspelled Hughes last name as “Hoghes” but his date of birth is correctly noted This reporter has been told that Jimmy Hughes is being represented by an attorney in Miami. Tomorrow Deputy Sheriff Powers and suspect Jimmy Hughes will appear in the Dade County Superior Court. It is believed that Mr. Hughes intends to waive extradition to California. If all goes as anticipated Deputy Sheriff John Powers will return to Riverside, California with suspect Jimmy Hughes on Monday, September 28, 2009.
After 28 years of freedom, will Jimmy Hughes finally be held accountable for the killings he has detailed on the World Wide Web?
Virginia McCullough © September 27, 2009
vmccullough@hotmail.com
