Mexico Trucker Online

Three people, including the leader of a border watch group and an officer within that group, were arrested in connection with a May 30 home invasion that left a father and his daughter dead and the mother wounded, authorities said.

One of those arrested, Shawna Forde, is the leader of Minutemen American Defense, a group out of Washington state that conducts operations along the U.S.-Mexican border in Arizona. The group is not related to either the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps founded by Chris Simcox, or the Minuteman Project founded by Jim Gilchrist.

Authorities also arrested Jason Eugene Bush, 34, who serves as operations director for the Washington group, and Albert Robert Gaxiola, 42, in connection with the shooting deaths of Raul Flores, 29, and his 9-year-old daughter, Brisenia Flores, said Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik.

The three are charged with two counts of first-degree murder, one count of first degree burglary, and one count of aggravated assault.

Several men and a woman claiming to be police officers forced their way into the home in the middle of the night May 30 and killed the pair. The girl’s mother was wounded, and investigators believe she returned fire, injuring Bush, Dupnik said.

Dupnik painted a grim picture of the tragedy during a press conference Friday at the Sheriff’s Department headquarters.

Raul Flores was a suspected drug dealer, and the three suspects targeted the house with the intention of stealing money and drugs, he said.

Bush was the suspected shooter, Dupnik said.

They did not plan to leave any survivors, he said. “The plan was to kill everyone. To kill a 9-year-old because she might be a potential witness is one of the most despicable acts I’ve heard of.”

Dupnik said Forde and her cohorts even searched for the couple’s other daughter, who had spent the night at her grandmother’s, with the intention of killing her.

Detectives arrested Bush Thursday in Kingman on a probation violation warrant for auto theft in Washington state, he said.

Bush is currently in a Kingman hospital recovering from a bullet wound after he was shot in the left calf by the mother, Dupnik said.

He will face extradition for the murders when he is released from the hospital, Dupnik said.

Forde was arrested Friday near Sierra Vista, and Gaxiola was taken into custody near South Park Avenue and Benson Highway, he said.

Forde was the suspected ringleader of the operation. Investigators believe the three planned to sell the drugs after the home invasion, he said.

Investigators are still trying to determine if anything was taken from the home, Dupnik said.

He did not elaborate on how the suspects knew the victim, other than to say some of the suspects knew him.
Gaxiola lives in Arivaca, while Bush lived in Meadview, a small community in Northern Arizona near the Nevada border, he said.

Forde is originally from Washington, but Dupnik did not know where she currently lived.

She declined to talk with reporters but denied involvement in the homicides as she was escorted by deputies from the Sheriff’s Department headquarters.

Forde has a troubled history that includes accusing her son’s friends of shooting her ex-husband and later raping and beating her in Everett, Wash., in December.

Her son was sentenced to prison in October after being convicted of being a felon in possession of weapons.
Forde is executive director of Minutemen American Defense, a border watch group that claims to secure the U.S. Border from human and drug trafficking, according to its Web site.

The Minutemen American Defense group is not associated with the Minutemen Civil Defense Corps, said Al Garza, vice president of the Minutemen Civil Defense Corps.

Forde was a leader with the Civil Defense Corps a few years ago but was dismissed after a few months because of leadership issues, he said.

Garza did not have a working relationship with Forde, but he met her when she came to Arizona in 2005, he said.

“She showed signs of poor leadership, but I didn’t see any wrongdoing,” he said.

Bush, whose nickname is Gunny, is the operations director for the group.

According to the Web site, he is a military veteran who has served numerous tours overseas and is in charge of all operations for the organization along the southern border.

“I take a very hard line with drugs and illegal immigration. Make no bones about it, I have a zero tolerance for terrorists, and that is what they are,” he wrote on the Web site.

SOURCES: Arizona Starnet