At left is Rose Vasquez, Anna's sister-in-law, taking pictures. Comment * at what temperature do stink bugs die. Six months before graduation, overwhelmed with her work schedule, she dropped out of high school. Testimony revealed that Alejandre herself was facing criminal charges after a search warrant was served in April 2015 at a home she previously resided in, when detectives began investigating Morales and his alleged role in Limon's murder. Stephanie Limon Martinez (right), shown with lawyer Casie Gotro, is fighting child-abuse allegations she said are based on retaliation. Ramirez theorized at the time that Javier Limon, her sister Rosemary's ex-boyfriend and her nieces' father was upset with her because she rejected his many romantic overtures after he went through a bad breakup with her sister, the Texas Observer reported. When Elizabeth went to get a haircut, the hairdresser wouldnt let her pay. She liked to balance on the balls of her feet, leading her mother to joke that maybe she would become a ballerina. Her son took a plea deal and is now a registered sex offender. Michelle Mondo, a crime reporter at the San Antonio Express-News, read Ottos piece and began investigating. Couldn't it be possible that he had coerced his children to make up a story so he could "get even" with the woman who dared to prefer women over him? . It was hard for me to really get my mind around what they had been accused of doing, he recalled. When Ramirez rebuffed him, her family claimed, Limon retaliated by. Anna was working at a Little Caesars. Cassies mother had kicked her out of the house, so Cassie stayed sometimes at Elizabeth and Kristies apartment. Limon's body was found by fieldworkers, and autopsy results showed that he suffered 10 gunshot wounds that struck his lung, heart and liver. I could mail out 50 letters and not one of them would [get a response] back, said Elizabeth, who scoured medical and legal textbooks in the prison library and spent nearly all of her commissary money on stamps. The Innocence Project of Texas hopes to perform a systematic review of child sex assault cases around Texas, and Kellogg may find more of her work questioned. Elizabeths friends say she could have done more to reject Javiers advances. Cameras flashed and clicked as the women were engulfed. The Firm presently has twelve members. Javier says she went to Mexico to evade paying child support. [Javiers younger daughter] told me herself, They were kissing us., Lonnie Gentry, the jury foreman at Elizabeths 1997 trial, listened to Javiers older daughter describe what had happened to her. Anna Vasquez gives her father Jesse Vasquez a hug as he leaves after celebrating Thanksgiving with family members at her Anna's mother's house, her first after being released on parole, Thursday, Nov. 22, 2012. But I cant do nothin because its my job., All four of the women described to me a transition in prison from rage and bewilderment to acceptance and quiet resolve. Javier Limn (born 1973) is a record producer, singer and songwriter born and raised in Madrid, Spain.Limn has worked with several artists, mainly from Spain, since he incorporates elements of flamenco rhythm to his work. I thought my case was going to go away.". She now says that didn't happen. The jury went home for the weekend, returning Monday for the closing arguments. Elizabeth Ramirez (clockwise from top left), Kristie Mayhugh, Cassandra Rivera and Anna Vasquez -- the San Antonio Four -- are all out on bond or parole, but face new trials. When I reached her by phone hoping to clarify what had happened, she told me, I dont talk to reporters. Anna said she no longer cared if anyone saw them as lovers, since they had so little time left. One of them, Elizabeth Ramirez, had a profile on the website WriteAPrisoner.com. By She told me about a man who is constantly in relationships with women who take advantage of him. In early February 1997, Elizabeth sat at the defendants table as the judge stated the charges against her: aggravated sexual assault of a child and indecency with a child. You got lucky! She said yes. She warned her daughter not to take care of Javiers daughters. Roughly a year later, in late October 2013, attorney Mike Ware filed writs for all four women. It was nearly silent, except for little clusters of words between the sobs. I thought you said that if youre gay and you were friends, thats a gay relationship?, No. Javier told me he testified in court on the matter, but that the police filed the CPS report, not him. The arresting officers would not even let me kiss him goodbye.. Anna Vasquez talks with mother Maria Vasquez, center, and friend Denise Tristan, left, as they celebrate Thanksgiving with family members at her mother's house, her first after being released on parole, Thursday, Nov. 22, 2012. Gresser claimed thatAlejandre often missed calls from Morris, and still continued selling or using drugs. During a cross-examination, Kazen, the prosecutor, broke the flow of his questions to ask, Am I intimidating you up here? She served 12 and a half years. Its just so unusual and bizarre.. Recently he had been sending her love letters. He asked to film her walking around the yard, and she complied, but she wouldnt stick one foot past the curb for the camera to symbolize her freedom, since it would technically violate her parole conditions. I never heard anything back.. No, Elizabeth said. They traded cars so each could get to work, bought hot dogs for the kids and played basketball at the park. But little happened for a year. The women held her down and started kissing her and putting cold liquid stuff inside her, and then they inserted a tampon into her vagina, she testified. VL claimed that the court reporter must have incorrectly taken down her remarks at Elizabeths trial. After splitting with her first girlfriend, Elizabeth started dating a man named Hector. All rights reserved. Discovery channel documentary 'Southwest of Salem: the Story of the San Antonio Four' unravels the case against lesbians accused of abuse. Otto found an organization called the National Center for Reason and Justice, which was created in the wake of the 1980s-era satanic ritual abuse scandals to advocate for people wrongfully accused of harming children. She knew by then she was either going to accept my lifestyle, or I wasnt going to be a part of her life, Elizabeth said. She claimed Morales never told her who Limon owed money to but that she did know there had been a business deal between Morales and Limon that went awry and soured their relationship. They realized that the four of them had rarely been in the apartment at the same time, because they were so busy with long shifts at various jobs at odd hoursyet the girls were claiming that all four women were present for the assault. I called all the womens previous attorneys, and they didnt even remember the case, she told me. Vasquez's mother, Maria Vasquez, and aunt, Valeria Pachecano, attended the meeting in her place. Kristie Mayhugh, seen here Sept. 4, 2012, is incarcerated at the Mountain View Unit in Gatesville, Texas. Get up-to-the-minute news sent straight to your device. Morales was serving time for attempted murder at a Lancaster prison around the time of Limon's death, and was using a cellphone to communicate with fellow gang members, along with his girlfriend, Josie Alejandre. The cameramen turned on their night-lights, which reflected off the glass of the jail door. Kristies parents were divorced and her mother, like Elizabeths, was uncomfortable with her daughters sexual orientation. There was a problem saving your notification. Shifts at Arbys. Limon Martinez was just 7 when she and her older sister said the women sexually assaulted them. Anna had seen Elizabeth unable to deal with the interests of men before. Did anyone pull out a butcher knife? the couple's lawyer, Casie Gotro, asked her. She was 22. Elizabeth Ramirez is in the Hobby Unit in Marlin, Texas, September 5, 2012. Their reinvestigation wasnt fruitful. The letter was several pages long and written in clear cursive script. Esquenazi became passionately involved, collecting footage for a documentary that she is still filming. While visiting her mother across the room, she would glare at Otto. Javier told me that his daughter didnt recant because she suddenly changed her mind about what happened to her. Spending on cops and tech at the border has increased ninefold in a decade. Stephanie Limon Martinez, right breaks down before 315th District Court Judge Angela E. Ellis during questioning at a hearing concerning custody of her children, in Houston, Monday, Dec. 3, 2012. Had he offered to marry her? When I handed him copies of the letters, he leafed through them disinterestedly. He went back inside as everyone exhaled. Dogs were barking and a few neighbors watched from a distance as she sat on the front steps and talked to a local TV anchor. Besides his work as producer has also dabbled as an interpreter and has released three studio albums, Limn, Son de Limn and Mujeres de Agua. I think Im going to wait for him to come to me, she told me shortly before her release. In the backseat of a car, Stephanie Limon (now Stephanie Martinez) read from a sheet of notebook paper. At H-E-B they met Cassie Rivera, who, before coming to terms with her attraction to other women, had a son and a daughter and then split with their father. An emotional Anna Vasquez pauses before answering questions about three of her friends who are still in prison. At the station, Matjeka asked if she knew a man named Javier Limon and his two daughters. I asked him, had he been in love with Elizabeth? Since the early 1980s, the United States had seen numerous accusations, investigations and trials of daycare workers and other adults for supposedly engaging in ritual satanic abuse, including the rape, murder and torture of children. While the names of those who make an outcry to CPS aren't public, the affidavit and testimony state that the case stems from a call to CPS in early August that claimed that the couple had a history of domestic violence, including Joseph Martinez pulling a butcher knife on his wife and her threatening him with pepper spray. Nathan convinced a filmmaker she had mentored named Deborah S. Esquenazi to take a look at the case. Do you think free access to journalism like this is important? Elizabeth told him about Javier, about her trial, and about the guilt she felt for her friends prison sentences. Vasquez could not attend the meeting because of her parole restrictions. Elizabeth Ramirez is in the Hobby Unit in Marlin, Texas, September 5, 2012. Elizabeth was completely lost in the huddle. Then one day while he was at work, his mother, Serafina Limon, was cooking while the girls played outside. Nathan contacted family members and others connected to the case, and Otto sought out reporters and published a short essay of his own on Texas Monthlys website. Ware and the other lawyers for the women have said that no matter how much the ongoing investigations may cast doubt on the legal and medical context for the convictions, much about the case will remain a mystery. Limon Martinez and her husband believe the accusations against them are in retaliation because she is now working to help exonerate her aunt and the other women. Morales stands accused of allegedly orchestrating the August 2014 murder of Javier Limon, who the prosecution claims was killed over unpaid drug debts to gang members. 2021 The Texas Observer. Nathan brought the case to the Innocence Project of Texas, where well-known attorney Jeff Blackburn agreed to represent the women. Limon was overbearing and lectured her constantly. The crowd followed the women down the jail steps. She was given permission to be there by her parole officer until they realized the property backed up to a school property line. By late 2013, he had cycled through several careers and was working for a security company and studying criminal justice at a community college in Stafford, near Houston. I tried writing the innocence projects and Oprah and Maury Povich and Montel, Anna told me, anybody who would listen. The scene of the crime had vanished. A wiry, bearded man appears on camera and tells them the building was torn down. Though Annas family was more accepting than the others, she still remembers gawking looks whenever she and Cassie would stroll together at carnivals. He was an ex-boyfriend of Ramirez's sister who the family said had made romantic advances toward the much younger Ramirez. Our whole relationship was based on him controlling me, she said. Javier says that Oscar stabbed him in the back by dating Rosemary, and that due to a stint in prison, Oscar was an excellent forger. defense attorney Michael Scott asked. In the spare, gray courtroom, Cassie, who often wore denim overalls, had on a black dress with white flowers. He explained that she threatened to recant to hurt him, because they had recently been fighting. One of the women told a court that the accusations came after she spurned Limons advances for marriage. The story of the San Antonio Four unfolded like this: In the summer of 1994, Ramirez's two nieces, the 9- and 7-year-old daughters of her older sister, stayed for a week with Ramirez and. Cassie saw Elizabeth for the first time at a Catholic mass. This type of evidence would later be deemed inaccurate. Matjeka told Elizabeth that if she had committed a crime, her sondue in about five monthswould probably be taken by the authorities. Philip Kazen, Elizabeths prosecutor, is now a judge. As Elizabeths mother, Gloria, remembers it, her daughter handed over the letters from Javier and said, Mom, hes after me. Gloria invited Javier out to breakfast and confronted him. Ramirez has testified that the. According to Ramirez, the accusation came after she rebuffed romantic advances by Limon. Mr. Limon took his daughters to the Alamo Children's Advocacy Centre where they underwent a physical examination for evidence of . No. I will make things right, and I am sorry for everything I put you through. Freelance writer Maurice Chammah lives in Austin. He didnt want to let me go.. One morning several days later, in September 1994, Elizabeths friends Cassandra Rivera and Anna Vasquez met at a park. Javier Limon makes his way to the 315th District Court in Houston to for a hearing concerning his daughter, Stephanie Limon Martinez's custody of her children. Elizabeth had been incarcerated nearly 17. San Antonio El Berrendo San Ricardo Santa Luca San Roberto Palo Blanco El Capricho Las Minitas El Guerreo El Porvenir Jess Ortiz El RecuerdoEl GuerreoEl Guerreo Booking mugshots of Elizabeth Ramirez (from left), Kristie Mayhugh, Anna Vasquez and Cassandra Rivera. Rosemary, who had trouble fighting for custody since she lived outside of Texas, floated around, at one point moving to Mexico with a husband who had immigration issues. San Javier Los Pandos Las Palmas Joel Garza Santa CruzLa Represa El Organo Lupe Lpez Don Miguel San Manuel Santa Cruz Los banos Luis Garza Los Drenes . Police were on the phone, saying her two nieces then ages 7 and 9 had accused Ramirez and three of her friends of sexually. I remember reporters at the time wanting to know if we were trying these women because they were lesbian, which was ludicrous, she told me. Anna Vasquez served more than a decade in jail while the other three women remain imprisoned. Four gay Hispanic women molesting children was something that seemed to go down everyone's throats quite easily only, it wasn't true. We were friends; me, Cassie, and Anna. The new technology was fascinating, but so were social mores. Thursday, Nov. 22, 2012. He let the letter sit on his desk for a week before he put it in the mail. Investigators say Richard Adam Hernandez shot and killed Rose Marie Limon on January 31 at her apartment on Pecan Valley Drive. The cluster reassembled. In high school, she remained small, never more than 4-foot-9, though that didnt keep her from playing on the basketball team. Dr. Kellogg has told the Bexar County District Attorneys office that her initial claims at the trial are outdated and that she wouldnt offer the same testimony today. But he sounded like a respectable guy., As Nathan examined the case, the testimony of Dr. Kellogg, who first examined the victims and described markings on their hymens as signs of abuse, jumped out to her. The lawyers, standing in a row behind them, answered the big-picture questions about the new state law and the legal actions to come. Her long straight hair was in a perm with her bangs teased up off her forehead. About a month before, they had spent a week at her apartment. Thursday, Nov. 15, 2012. In the early 1990s, he told me, he had been working as a heavy-equipment operator for the city of San Antonio and dating Rosemary. The families did their best to move on. Friday, Nov. 2, 2012. All four of the women were out as lesbians, a fact that colored the investigation into the accusations and case against them. The questioning continued, focusing on Elizabeths relationships with women. The man standing outside her small apartment had thick black hair. She testified under oath at the trial that Javier had arrived in Denver and threatened her with a gun. Every Sunday, she would write her son a letter and have her mother deliver it. By the time of VL and Stephanies outcries, these public dramas had largely died out, though Dr. Kellogg, in her exam notes, had written, this could be satanic-related. Nathan told me it was probably the last time anyone wrote in the record, This looks satanic., She checked Ottos background, since it seemed strange that he was so interested in the case. More letters followed, each one taking about two weeks between his home and Elizabeths prison in Marlin. Elizabeth was confused. 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