Two Sentenced to Death for Killing Five People

Two reputed gang members were sentenced to death Wednesday for their roles in the 1995 execution-style slayings of three adults and two children in El Monte--an attack that authorities say was carried out on orders from the Mexican Mafia.

Pomona Superior Court Judge Robert W. Armstrong followed the jury’s recommendation and imposed the death penalty on Richard Anthony Valdez, 23, of West Covina, and Jimmy Palma, 22, of Arcadia.

As the judge pronounced the sentence, Valdez screamed an obscenity at him. “My client was expressing his opinion,” defense attorney Antonio Bestard explained later.

Palma, the other defendant, said nothing.

The two had been convicted last December of five counts of first-degree murder for the April 22, 1995, slayings of Maria Moreno, 38, and her daughter Laura, 5, and son Ambrose, 6 months old. Also killed were Anthony Moreno, 42, the dead woman’s brother, and Gus “Tito” Aguirre, 36, a family friend.

Two other youngsters, ages 2 and 6, survived the attack.

Each of the victims was shot at close range, investigators said.

Prosecutors said the attack was ordered by the prison gang because Anthony Moreno, a reputed member of the Mexican Mafia, left the group 12 years earlier in violation of the group’s “blood in, blood out” rule.

That edict holds that once someone is admitted as a Mexican Mafia member, he cannot leave voluntarily. According to experts on the Mexican Mafia, violators of this rule must be killed.

One gang member, Anthony Torres, 31, of Alhambra, was sentenced this week to life in prison without the possibility of parole for his role in the murders. Two others, Daniel Logan, 20, of Pasadena, and Jose Ortiz, 26, of San Gabriel, were convicted as accomplices and were sentenced to 129 years to life in prison.

A sixth man, Luis Macial, 27, a reputed Mexican Mafia member, is scheduled to go on trial in September.

During the recently concluded trial of 13 reputed members and associates of the group in Los Angeles federal court, one defense attorney sought to ban any mention of the El Monte slayings, arguing it might prejudice the jury against his client, Raymond “Huero Shy” Shryock.

Although authorities suspect Shryock was involved, no mention of the El Monte murders was made during the federal case. Shryock and 11 others were convicted May 30 of racketeering and conspiracy charges, including murder, attempted murder and drug trafficking.

Correspondent Richard Winton contributed to this story.