SHERIFF SAYS COLQUITT PAIR HELPED BUST DEALERS

The couple killed Monday with their 3-year-old son and two other
adults in South Georgia had been providing information that led to the
arrests of several Texas drug dealers, authorities said Wednesday.

Berrien County Sheriff Jerry Brogdon said Jaime and Katerina Resendez
started cooperating with investigators late last year, almost
immediately after his deputies found 138 pounds of marijuana and
$30,000 in their trailer.

Brogdon, who is not directly involved in the murder investigation led
by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, said the couple could have
been in peril because of their cooperation with authorities. Five
people died in what authorities have described as execution-style
killings in Colquitt County, which is near Berrien County.

"When anyone gets in that business, there are several different ways
of making people mad," he said. "When you're arrested on any charge,
you stand the chance of making someone mad."

The information provided by the couple reportedly helped investigators
trace the drug connection to its source in Mexico.

Brogdon also speculated that the killings could harm the case against
the Texas drug dealers.

The Resendezes were found shot to death Monday afternoon in their
Moultrie home, along with Katerina's mother, the couple's 3-year-old
son and an unidentified woman. They were found when four other
children in the family --- ages 12, 9, 7 and 5 --- came home from school.

Authorities still are searching for a motive and have not identified
any suspects, but they said they are looking for connections between
the 2003 drug bust and the killings.

Jaime Resendez, 24, tried to fight the killers and was shot several
times, authorities said. The body of 3-year-old Juan Carlos Resendez
was found partially concealed and wedged between a mattress and
headboard --- in an apparent attempt to hide the boy from the killers,
authorities said.

On Wednesday morning, sheriff's deputies stopped every vehicle that
passed by the one-story brick house off Ga. 37, asking people if they
had seen anything near the home that might be related to the killing.

Brogdon said the GBI visited his office soon after the killings. "Once
the names came up, they moved here pretty quickly," he said.

Jaime and Katerina Resendez were not in protective custody,
authorities said. They had not told authorities they were afraid for
their safety. Brogdon noted, however, the couple had moved three times
since their arrest last year.

Authorities had been trying to keep the couple's arrest quiet as the
larger investigation continued, Brogdon said.

Almost a year after their arrest, the couple had not been indicted and
had not had to appear in court. The county court clerk's office said
there was no record of the case there.

Brogdon said informing after a drug arrest "is the way the game is
played. . . . You let them help themselves. You try to get them to
climb up the ladder" to expose bigger drug dealers closer to the main
players.

The Resendezes' drug arrest in Ray City last year resulted from
information provided by a confidential informant who had been
arrested, Brogdon said. Three other adults were arrested at the scene.

Authorities were particularly trying to keep information about the
couple's arrest from the Texas drug dealers, Brogdon said. The couple
and authorities were hoping they would not have to testify in the case.

"We tried to keep it from happening," Brogdon said. "You try to
protect your sources."