Man Wrongly Jailed Is Freed After Unnoticed Papers Found

An Escondido man who spent nine days in jail for a murder he did not commit is free with his family today, recovering from his experience as a victim of a bizarre case of mistaken identity.

Ezequiel Sanchez Chavero, a 40-year-old tree trimmer, was freed Tuesday afternoon after spending 9 1/2 days in the County Jail at Vista, officials said. The father of four was freed after authorities learned that the actual suspect in the killing was being held on a murder charge by Mexican authorities in Guadalajara, said David Williams, a deputy district attorney based in Vista.

Throughout his incarceration, officials said, the documents that would have indicated Sanchez’s innocence sat in the district attorney’s files. They were unobserved until Williams began purusing the folders on Monday after questions arose about Sanchez’s alleged involvement in the killing of a San Diego County youth. Despite the mistake, Williams insisted that the correct procedure was followed and Sanchez was simply the victim of an unusual set of coincidences.

“Of course, everybody feels sorry for him,” said Williams. “On the other hand, I think this office did everything it could once it knew what was going on.”

Sanchez insisted throughout the ordeal that he was not the killer. However, his assertions apparently did not carry much weight until his attorney, John Jimenez, told Williams on Monday that he believed his client was the wrong man. The move prompted Williams to review the district attorney’s files on the killing--a search that yielded Mexican police documents indicating that Sanchez was the wrong man.

Jimenez, a staff attorney with the Public Defenders office, and Sanchez could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

Williams and a jail official provided this account of the case:

Sanchez, described as a native of Mexico who is a resident legal alien of the United States and an 11-year resident of San Diego County , was arrested by Escondido police Nov. 24 on suspicion of drunken driving. A routine computer check of his name identified him as a prime suspect in the killing of Toby Magee, 16, who was found dead on Sept. 2, 1982, near Valley Center Road in Pauma Valley.

Magee died of head injuries incurred in a brawl with a group of Mexican farm workers. Shortly after his death, police identified a Mexican man, Exequiel Vasquez Sanchez, as a suspect in the crime. A warrant was issued for Vasquez’s arrest after witnesses said he had fled the county; he was believed to have returned to Mexico.

When Sanchez was arrested on the drunken-driving charge, a standard computer check quickly fixed on the outstanding warrant and identified Sanchez as the suspect in Magee’s death. Not only was his name similar to that of the suspect’s, but there were other similarities: Both men were born April 10, 1945; both were Mexican, and both were the same height--5 feet, 7 inches. Consequently, Sanchez was held and charged in connection with the slaying. His protests of innocence went unheeded.

“What he said was not unique,” said Williams. “Those are famous last words: ‘It’s not me. You got the wrong guy.’ ”

Meanwhile, the murder case was progressing in Mexico.

Following standard procedures, copies of the case against Vasquez were forwarded to Mexican federal authorities in Guadalajara, capital of the state of Jalisco, Vasquez’s home region. Unbeknownst to investigators in San Diego, Mexican officials informed the district attorney’s office in writing that Vasquez had been arrested by Mexican authorities Dec. 6, 1984. That information remained on file at the district attorney’s office in Vista, but no one looked through the files until Williams pulled them on Monday.

After reviewing the files and interviewing Sanchez, authorities decided that he was not their man. After a brief Municipal Court hearing Tuesday morning, during which the court apologized for the inconvenience, Sanchez was released from jail at 3:10 p.m. The murder charge was dropped.

Mexican officials are still believed to be holding Vasquez on the murder charge, Williams said. However, it was not known if Vasquez had ever been prosecuted there for the crime and his legal status here will now be investigated.

Meanwhile, Sanchez’s legal problems are not over: He still faces charges of drunken driving and driving a vehicle without liability insurance, said Williams. A court date has been set for Monday in Municipal Court in Vista.