CONSULATE SLAYINGS MASTERMIND IN TEXAS

SAN ANTONIO -- A man suspected of ordering the assassination of a U.S.
Consulate worker and her husband in Juarez in March appeared Friday in
a San Antonio courtroom under tight security and a shroud of secrecy.

Jesus Ernesto Chavez Castillo, known as "El Camello," or the camel, is
suspected of ordering the slayings of Lesley Enriquez Redelfs and her
husband, Arthur Redelfs, both of El Paso.

Chavez was watched over by several FBI agents, most of whom were
allowed inside the courtroom of U.S. Magistrate Judge John Primomo for
a closed-door hearing that took about 40 minutes.

The San Antonio Express-News late Friday confirmed through sources,
photographs and booking records at a jail near San Antonio, where the
prisoner was being held, that the hearing was for Chavez, 41.

FBI Special Agent Michael Martinez, a spokesman for the agency in El
Paso, said he could not provide any information on the case and
referred all inquiries to the Department of Justice in Washington,
D.C. He declined to comment on what charges Chavez may face in the
U.S.

The family of the Redelfs also declined to comment Friday
night.

Enriquez Redelfs and her husband were shot and killed on March 13
after they left a children's party in Juarez. Also killed that day was
Jorge Salcido Ceniceros, the husband of another consulate employee who
also attended the party.

Chavez was arrested this summer by Mexican authorities, accused of
planning the shooting deaths the three victims and of participating in
the slayings of 15 people, including 11 teenagers in January at a
birthday party in Villas del Salvacar neighborhood of Juarez.

He was handed over to U.S. authorities as part of an agreement between
the two countries to cooperate on drug extradition cases. The federal
complaint on which he was being held is under seal.

Jose Ramon Salinas, spokes man for the Mexican federal police in
Juarez, said in July that Chavez told authorities that Juarez drug
cartel members who live in the United States conspired to kill
Enriquez Redelfs because she smoothed the way when issuing visas to
members of the Sinaloa cartel. She was pregnant when she was killed.

Salinas said the federal agents have not confirmed the allegation that
Enriquez Redelfs was the target.

The FBI in El Paso, which has been investigating the slayings, said
his claim is unverified.

"We have no indication that anyone who was killed was targeted because
of their jobs," FBI Special Agent Andrea Simmons said then.

Chavez, described as a top Azteca gang member who led hit squads, was
arrested in Juarez after a raid by authorities on a home. Mexican
police arrested Chavez and Francisco Puga de la Torre, 30, in
connection with the slayings of Enriquez Redelfs, Redelfs and Salcido.

Chavez, who has an extensive criminal record in the U.S., was taken to
Mexico City after his arrest because he is considered a high-risk
prisoner, officials said.

Chavez told police he knew Enriquez Redefs was traveling in a white
sport utility vehicle on the day of the attack. He and other gang
members located two similar vehicles at the birthday party. They
followed and opened fire against both.

Salcido was driving the other sport utility vehicle.

Mexican authorities arrested another suspect in late March, and his
story contradicts Chavez's.

Ricardo Valles de la Rosa, a former Barrio Azteca gang member, told
authorities that Arthur Redelfs was targeted because he mistreated
gang members at the El Paso County Jail, where he worked.

Mexican authorities said Chavez worked for "La Linea," or the Juarez
drug cartel, which is entangled in a bloody war with the Sinaloa drug
cartel. More than 6,000 people have been killed in Juarez in the war
that started in 2008.

The hearing in San Antonio for Chavez appeared to have been scheduled
for late Friday going into the Labor Day weekend to avoid publicity.
Primomo turned down a San Antonio Express-News reporter's objection to
closing the hearing, which was ordered by a federal judge in El Paso.

A federal prosecutor who attended the hearing also refused to answer
questions about Chavez.

Court records show that Chavez has had a history of crime in the
United States. He has been arrested and convicted on charges of drug
dealing and alcohol abuse.

Chavez arrived illegally in El Paso with his family when he was 17 in
1986. That year, he married and moved to Los Angeles.

In the 1990s, Chavez was arrested and convicted for drunken driving
and for selling marijuana to undercover El Paso police officers.

Chavez became a U.S. resident in January 1996, but he quickly ran into
problems with the law again.

In April 1996, Chavez was convicted of selling marijuana. He was
subject to deportation because of the drug-dealing conviction but was
given a chance to stay in 1998.

In 2001, Chavez crashed a vehicle in Horizon City and injured four
people. He had been drinking and was charged with intoxicated assault
and convicted.

After that conviction, the U.S. government deported him to
Juarez.

But he came back.

In 2003, he managed to enter the United States by lying to customs at
a port of entry, saying he was a U.S. citizen, according to court
documents. In February that year, he was arrested by the Border Patrol
at the Del Norte Courts Motel.

The agent who arrested Chavez said the motel was known for drug and
immigrant smuggling operations, according to an affidavit.

Chavez again lied to the agents about his status and said he had
papers, the affidavit said. He was convicted of illegal re-entry and
put in a federal prison for 30 months because of his previous crimes.

It is unclear where Chavez went after his prison term. But Mexican
authorities said Chavez was detained by the Mexican army in 2008 in
connection with drug trafficking. He was later released.

Times reporter Aileen B. Flores contributed to this
report

Guillermo Contreras of the San Antonio Express-News contributed to
this report.