The Woodward News

Local News

March 13, 2010

Judge calls for murder suspect to be held over

Michelle Seeber Woodward News

Woodward, Okla. — Associate District Judge Don Work has ordered that Isidro Juarez Ramos of Guatemala be held over for formal arraignment in Woodward County District Court on a first degree murder charge.

Work’s decision came at the conclusion of testimony on Friday during a preliminary hearing for Ramos who is being held in the death of Antonio Lopez Velasquez, 25.

Velasquez’s body was found by police in May 2009 after Isidro Ramos, 29, and his brother Julio Juarez Ramos, 23, allegedly confessed to strangling Velasquez and dumping the body in a rural area near Mooreland.

Both brothers were arrested and questioned in Enid after they allegedly drove Velasquez’s Ford Mustang there and placed a call on his cell phone requesting a ride back to Mooreland.

During the preliminary hearing, Ramos’ attorney Cynthia Viol directed many questions to Antonio Moreno, an officer with the Enid Police Department who interpreted Ramos’ confession.

Viol noted that Ramos has a grade school education and speaks  Mayan, not fluent Mexican Spanish, the language Moreno used when interpreting Ramos’ confession.

Moreno testified that he knows Ramos is a Guatemalan Mayan and he knows Mayan and Spanish are different languages although they have similar words.

However, he said, Ramos “understood” the questions asked him in the Spanish language.

Viol also asked Moreno about interpreted details of the type written confession, which showed both the Spanish and English translations. She pointed out several Spanish words that she said could mean one thing or something else.

She also questioned whether Ramos actually confessed to helping his brother strangle Velasquez with a rope.

“At any time, had Isidro Ramos said he had a hold of the rope and was pulling backward?” Viol said.

“He just grabs the rope and holds it,” Moreno said of his interpretation of the confession.

“(And) you asked him why he was pulling on the rope,” Viol said.

Moreno said that according to his interpretation, Ramos meant “I lift him up when my brother hit him with a stick.”

“You were (also) asking... were you finishing him off,” Viol said.

“Yes,” Moreno said.

“And he never really responds to that question,” she said.

“Yes, he does. He stated my brother told me to help him,” Moreno said, but noted Ramos never actually stated the words, “I killed him.”

“The only thing that is clear about (his statement) at all is that he helped dispose of the body,” Viol said.

Testimony was also heard from Velasquez's girlfriend Linda Castillo and Mooreland Chief of Police Steve Summerall, who both spoke about finding a rope and some of Velasquez's belongings, including a silver cross that Castillo had given him, inside the Ramos brothers' residence in Mooreland after his disappearance.

However, Viol argued Ramos should not be tried for murder in the first degree or for aiding and abetting based on lack of sufficient evidence and that “Ramos is an illiterate Mayan Indian who was interpreted by a Spanish speaking officer.”

But District Attorney Hollis Thorp argued the “fact that he held the rope up while his brother hit him with a stick  -- that is aiding and abetting.”

Work said he was overruling Viol’s argument and ordered the formal arraignment date be set sometime in late June.

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