Friday, November 16, 2007

Sheriff: Murder likely was drug related

Men wanted for questioning may have fled to Mexico


By TERRY SMITH
Express Staff Writer

Gustavo Flores-Quintana

A Hailey man who was murdered execution-style last week near Gooding is the brother of a suspect who was indicted by a Blaine County grand jury last April following a major drug bust by the county's Narcotics Enforcement Team.

Gooding County Sheriff Shaun Gough confirmed Thursday that murder victim Gustavo Flores-Quintana, 30, was the younger brother of 32-year-old Jorge Flores-Quintana, currently serving time in the Idaho state penitentiary on drug dealing and escape charges.

Jorge Flores-Quintana was one of 13 suspects indicted by the grand jury. He was charged in the indictment with one count of delivery of methamphetamine and one count of failure to affix illegal drug tax stamps. Jorge Flores-Quintana has been in prison since the indictments were issued on April 20 and has not been brought to Blaine County for arraignment.

He was convicted in Gooding County in 2000 for illegal possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver and was sentenced to 15 years in prison. He was also convicted earlier this year in Gooding County on an escape charge, which added another four years to his prison term. He is currently being held in maximum security at the state penitentiary near Boise.

Though younger brother Gustavo Flores-Quintana apparently has no drug arrests or convictions, the Gooding County Sheriff's Office has determined his murder was drug related.

Gustavo was shot in the back of the head with a .22-caliber bullet on the evening of Thursday, Nov. 8. His body was found the following morning by a duck hunter near the Big Wood River about a mile north of Gooding.

Authorities are searching for two men for questioning in the case but fear they have fled to Mexico. The Gooding County Sheriff's Office identified them as 23-year-old Jesus Valencia-Bolanos and 37-year-old Carlos Villanueva-Martinez, both of Gooding.

Gustavo Flores-Quintana was a native of Mexico who had lived in the Wood River Valley for the past 13 years. He apparently spent much of his time in the Gooding area, having been arrested there four times on charges of driving while intoxicated. Gough said Gustavo apparently had legal residency status in the United States because there are no records of his being deported following the arrests.

He is believed to have worked at times in drywall construction.

An obituary released Thursday by Wood River Chapel in Hailey describes Gustavo as a "hard worker" and "very friendly."

He was born in 1977 in San Vicente, near Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.

Gustavo Flores-Quintana leaves behind a large family, including a wife and three children in Pocatello and five brothers and three sisters, most of whom live in Mexico.

Funeral services were scheduled to be held late Thursday afternoon at St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church in Hailey. Wood River Chapel reported that Flores-Quintana will be returned to Mexico for burial.




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