Arrests Made in Four Anaheim Murders : Crime: Four men sought in separate homicides--one dating to 1989--have been taken into custody over past two weeks. Police cite persistence and luck in solving cases.

The Police Department said Thursday that it has solved four separate homicides with the arrests of four men over the past two weeks, including one suspect who had been wanted since 1989.

Two of the suspects had warrants out for their arrests since the murders, but police could not find them, Anaheim Police Lt. Ted Labahn said. Police did not have enough evidence to arrest the other two until only recently, he added.

Labahn said investigators’ persistence and some luck led to the arrests.

“It’s one of those things where you keep working at it and, the good Lord willing, it comes through,” Labahn said. “Homicide cases can sometimes go for years without being resolved, but then something clicks and it all falls together.”

Labahn would not detail how police tracked down the suspects or what evidence came to light that led to the arrests, saying that such information was being kept confidential to help with prosecution.

The four men arrested are:

* Luciano Bermudez, 38, who was taken into custody in San Jose and charged with shooting a 34-year-old Anaheim man in October, 1989. The victim, Silvino Casillas Garcia, was shot in the chest outside the El Tropico Bar on Anaheim Boulevard. Police had been searching for Bermudez since the killing.

* Juan Castro, 29, was charged with shooting Aaron Todd Ricks, 28, of San Bernardino in November, 1991. Ricks, who was shot in the head, was found in bushes along Santa Ana Canyon Road by a jogger. Castro was in the custody of federal authorities on unrelated drug charges when he was charged with Ricks’ murder. Anaheim police, working with the federal Drug Enforcement Administration, recently identified Castro as the prime suspect in the case.

* Jesus Ochoa, 22, was arrested by Anaheim police in Riverside County for allegedly killing John Garcia, 25, of Anaheim last October. Garcia was shot outside an apartment building on West Neighbors Avenue while arguing with Ochoa and possibly another person who had driven up in a car, police said. Police believe the shooting was gang-related. Recent information gave police enough evidence to issue an arrest warrant.

* Hugo Magallon, 32, was recently found and arrested in Garden Grove in connection with the Jan. 6 murder of Jesus Hernandez, 39, of Anaheim. Police say Magallon shot Hernandez in the face during an argument. Both men had lived in the Golden Forest Inn on Katella Avenue.