Shots From Behind Killed 2 in Border Fray : Autopsy Confirms Earlier Findings on Killings by County’s Task Force

An autopsy by the San Diego County coroner’s office has confirmed earlier findings by a Tijuana pathologist that two suspected border robbers who were shot and killed by a joint federal-city police squad last month were hit from behind--one in the back and arm, the other in the back of his head.

The case has spurred considerable controversy--and an investigation by the FBI--since a San Diego lawyer representing the families of the two men alleged that both were shot from behind while handcuffed and running back to Mexico. The Mexican Embassy in Washington sent a note to the U. S. State Department questioning the use of force against the two men.

However, senior police officers and the coroner stressed that the autopsy results by no means prove that the two were shot while running away. The two may have been hit while twisting and turning, they say, or they could have been shot from behind by officers who feared for the safety of their colleagues.

The autopsy reports also provide no evidence that the two men were handcuffed when they were shot. The documents made no mention of bruises to their wrists. Authorities say the two men were handcuffed after they were shot, a practice they describe as standard police procedure.

Coroner David J. Stark said in an interview that it would be very difficult to medically prove that the men were handcuffed when they were shot.

Toxicology Tests

Toxicology tests detected the presence of cocaine in both of the men, Stark said, adding that it had been ingested sometime during the eight hours before they died.

How the narcotic may have affected their behavior that night is unclear. Its presence in the bodies indicates that men were law-breakers and might have committed robberies to support drug habits, said Cmdr. Cal Krosch of the San Diego Police Department.

Authorities have charged that the two were suspected of being robbers who threatened six members of the Border Crime Prevention Unit, a heavily armed, uniformed foot patrol consisting of San Diego police officers and U. S. Border Patrol agents.

The attorney representing the victims’ families has maintained that the two were small-time smugglers who peddled their services to people crossing the border illegally.

Police say three Border Patrol agents opened fire when the two men, accompanied by two accomplices, made threatening moves against the squad. One man brandished a knife, police say.

The attorney, citing witness statements, has contended that the two were already handcuffed and in police custody when they broke away and attempted to run back to Mexico, leading to the shooting.

One victim, Jose Martin Lopez Sandoval, 21, who worked in a fish market, died from a single shotgun blast to the back of the head, the autopsy found. His scalp was pierced by nine pellets, the report said.

His accomplice, Sabino Silva Chavez, 25, died of a single gunshot wound on the left side of his lower back, the autopsy found. The bullet struck his spleen, a lung and his heart before exiting through his chest, the report stated. He also suffered a bullet wound in the back of his left arm, but the damage from that was described as minor.