Wash. Murder Charge for Man Accused in AZ Killings
Man accused in Arizona slayings charged in 1997 Washington stabbing death of Hispanic man
One of the three people arrested in an Arizona home invasion that left a little girl and her father dead has been charged with the 1997 slaying of a Hispanic man in Washington state.
A second-degree murder charge was filed Friday in Chelan County Superior Court against 34-year-old Jason Eugene Bush in the stabbing death of Hector Lopez Partida, a homeless man.
An informant told Wenatchee police that Bush bragged about killing "a Mexican" behind a store and that Bush had ties to white supremacist groups, according to court documents. Prosecutors say he was linked to the death through DNA evidence.
Bush and two others, including Shawna Forde, 41, from Everett, Wash., are charged with murder in Arizona in a May 30 home invasion that wounded a woman and killed her husband and their 9-year-old daughter. Authorities allege Bush and Forde had connections to a Washington state anti-illegal immigration group that conducts border watches in Arizona.
It was not immediately known if Bush was represented by a lawyer. Forde has denied involvement in the Arizona home invasion.
Bush, Forde and Albert Robert Gaxiola, 42 — have been charged with two counts each of first-degree murder and other charges in Pima County, Ariz. The three are alleged to have dressed as law enforcement officers and forced their way into a home about 10 miles north of the Mexican border in rural Arivaca.
A sheriff in Arizona has said they wanted to steal money to fund operations of Forde's Minutemen American Defense.
"The husband who was murdered has a history of being involved in narcotics and there was an anticipation that there would be a considerable amount of cash at this location as well as the possibility of drugs," Sheriff Clarence Dupnik of Pima County said last week.
The Minutemen American Defense Web site — now taken down — had said Forde, who has been living recently in Arizona, was the group's leader. Bush goes by the nickname "Gunny" and he was the group's operations director, according to the Web site.
