The Galveston Daily News from Galveston, Texas • Page 8

BEST AVAILABLE COPY 8-A THE GALVESTON DAILY, NEWS SUNDAY MORNING, MARtH 4, 1990 Impact Remembering Mark Kilroy Grisly events surrounding Kilroy's murder recalled ByJOELKIRKPATRICK Daily News SANTA FE Jim and Helen Kilroy's belief that the drug problem was "being handled" elsewhere and would never touch them was shattered by a sequence of events that began with Spring Break in 1989, and led to their commitment to the war on drugs. Here are some of the significant dates: Mark Kilroy, 21, a pre-med student at LIT Austin, star high school athlete, honor student, native of Santa Fe, disappears during the night of March 14. He and three friends and fellow students had gone to Matamoros for a night on the town. Kilroy's family organizes extensive search in Matamoros. Keeps the pressure on local officials, has visit with (then) San Antonio Mayor Henry Cisneros, the mayors Brownsville and Matamoros on April 10, 1989.

Then in April, on a day that, reeked of death, officials in Matamoros uncovered the bodies of Kilroy and.what eventually totaled 14 other victims from shallow graves at a ranch just south of the U.S. border. The dead had apparently been sacrificed by drug smugglers who believed satanic rituals would safeguard them from being arrested for law violations. On April 15 federal narcotics charges were filed in Brownsville against eight people accused of membership in the cull and believed to be involved in the slaying of victims who were buried on a ranch about 20 miles west of Matamoros. Authorities identified Adolfo de Jesus Constanzo, 26, as the "godfather," or El Padrino, of the cult.

They pegged Sara Maria Aldrete, 24, as the godmother of the cult. Constanzo was later killed in a bizarre shooting in Mexico City in which Constanzo allegedly ordered his own execution. Aldrete is currently in a Mexican prison. Her trial is pending. Arrested with Aldrete in a fourth-floor apartment in Mexico City after a police shoot-out were Alvaro de Leon Valdez, Juan Carlos Fragoso, and Jorge Monies.

The Mexican 58th Penal Court fused to set bail for any of-the de- After the meeting, Mrs. Kilroy said she felt the government would do its part, "but all of us are going to have to do our part, too. It is going to take the entire nation, with everyone doing their part to rid our country of this terrible scourge." fenclants. They were formally indicted for murder on May 1G, 1989, and denied bail because the charges could result in sentences of more than five years. Murder in the Mexican court system carries a maximum sentence of 50 years.

On April 13, in Brownsville, the mother of Mark Kilroy told about 1,200 people at a memorial mass for her son lhat they should pray for the drug smugglers. She spoke lo an overflow crowd at St. Luke's Catholic Church in Brownsville. She asked them to pray that the killers of her son and the others would be caught and that (he Lord would enter their hearts arnHhey would know they had clone wrong. On May 2, although Jim and Helen Kilroy declined to appear on the Oprah Winfrey Show, their friends Gwen Huddleston and her son Bill and Texas Attorney General Jim Mattox did appear! Al that time, it was stated publicly that the Kilroys bad become strong activists against drug use and drug smuggling.

In Santa Fe, Texas, on May 4, Jim and Helen Kilroy spoke" to more than 300 people in the Wollam Elementary School Cafelo- rium and at lhat time they declared their war on drugs. Jim Kilroy told the crowd his son's murder was the result of the drug demic. The Kilroys called for a "People's Solution" to the drug problem, which lists three objectives: get everyone except addicts to quit; provide rehabilitation for drug addicts; and eliminate retail selling of drugs. In May, a Spanish-language radio station in South Texas started playing a- "Corrido" about the drug-cult slayings at Matamoros, it was called "The Tragedy of Ma- tamoros." It was played with guitars and accordion. It mentioned El Padrino, and Aldrete, and a "Young American," Mark Kilroy.

The record was produced by Ramex Records of Houston, and distributed to Mexican and Rio Grande Valley radio stations. On May 20, four suspects charged in Matamoros claimed Mexican police tortured them into signing incriminating confessions to the crimes. The four men, Sergio Martinez and Elio Hernandez Rivera, 22, Serafin Hernandez Garcia, 22, and David Serna Valdez, 23, were arrested April 11 after Ihe bodies were found at Rancho Sanla Elena, a ranch owned by the Hernandez family. The men claimed they were shocked with cattle prods, beaten and had their heads placed in plaslic bags until they lost consciousness. On June 19, Jim Kilroy told a' La Marque Kivvanis Club that there is a need for a united national front against illegal drugs.

In July there was a speculative story in which federal agents indicated they were investigating links between top-level syndicated crime bosses in Chicago and the cult-influenced ring in Mexico which claimed Mark Kilroy of Santa Fe among its 15 victims. By this time, the first of several quickie books on the Matamoros cult to show up, it was called "The Hell Ranch" and had a subtitle called "The Nightmare Tale of Voodoo, Drugs Death in Matamoros." The Kilroys weren't interested in, notoriety, and turned down interviews for potboiler books. They were interested in do something about the millions of lives they felt were being ruined by drugs. Then on Aug. 15, Jim and Hel- en Kilroy journeyed to Washington, D.C.

and met- with national drug policy director William J. Bennett and President George Bush in the White House. Bush listened to them. He and Bennett were seeking advice from citizens as the administration prepared its first comprehensive strategy for fighting drugs and drug trafficking. Bennett said the nation.suffered with the Kilroys, but added, "But since that time (of the loss of their son Mark) the Kilroys have taken their pain and their tragedy and turned it into a very good effort." After the meeting, Mrs.

Kilroy said she felt the government would do its part, "but all of us are going to have to do our part, too. It is going to take the entire nation, with everyone doing their part to rid our country of this terrible scourge." On December 27 "The Santa Fe Bulletin" published a special section, entitled "The War on Drugs." On the cover was a photograph of the President and Jim and Helen Kilroy, and Bennett And that special section was devoted to drug and substance abuse. Mark disappeared in March 1989 Kilroy was last seen in this area of Matamoros Stall pholo by'Roberl W. Rizzo Santa Fe police need more citizen involvement in battle SANTA FE What the police department needs most in its war against drugs is involvement of citizens, Police Chief Mike Barry and Crime Prevention Chief John Hunter say. "We need additional help from citizens," Barry says.

"When people see law violations, they need to call us. With information from citizens we will be able to reduce criminal activity in the community and put criminals where they belong." He said he believes people do not call police because they are afraid. They need to realize that by giving information they are protected by the state. In no way, shape or form will officers reveal their identity. Barry says he believes more ac-.

tivities for young people will help them stay away from drugs. "I think a lot of the problem in this community is that kids don't have anything to do and they get bored," he added. Both Barry and Hunter agreed that some impact on the drug problem is being made in the communi- ty by citizen efforts. "Society is more knowledgeable on the problem and people are getting tired of it," Hunter said. "People are losing their children, their families and their possessions because of drug-related crime.

For years, the attitude was that it didn't affect them. But when the drug-head robs them then it affects them, and they get mad." Barry stressed that alcohol is the number one problem in his area, but he said that in some way and in some fashion, all crimes are drug and alcohol related." School drug program works ByJOELKIRKPATRICK The Daily News HITCHCOCK At a time when a 9-year-old Galveston girl showed up at Parker Elementary school with a baggie of cocaine which someone in her family may have put in her coat pocket, Highway 6, schools were adopting a program of cooperation between police departments and school districts. The program, called Drug Abuse Resistance Education, was installed in Hitchcock schools in the fall semester. Hitchcock police officer Sam Alsobrook attended a two-week-long, 90-hour program in certifying him to instigate such a program. The D.A.R.E.

program originated in Los Angeles four years ago, as of a cooperative education effort between the police department and school district. It has grown to be one of the largest drug abuse programs in the world, Alsobrook said. It has been to sixth graders in Europe, vfoundland and Sweden. Alsobrook said the program works. "What it does is to open the eyes of young people and getting them to realize there are other alternatives to taking drugs." Alsobrook was quoted extensively in a story in a recent edition of a Santa Fe newspaper, as saying he hoped the program in the schools would help break down the barrier between young people and policemen.

School systems have in the past sent mixed messages to students, hesaid. He recalled that when he was at- tending South Houston High School in the 1970s, a man came in to talk about drugs. "He was an ex-druggie. But he pulled up in a Cadillac with his gold chains on. He told us something to the effect, 'I was on drugs but now my life is fine and I'm doing great' and this is really giving kids the wrong impression." Alsobrook said just telling kids to "just say no," is not enough, "It's like telling a manic depressive to 'have a nice Kids think, 'what do I do after I say and this is where D.A.R.E.

picks up," He feels if kids can be armed with enough educational information on how to deal with peer pressure and stress, on what drugs can cost them, on how to think on their in dealing with them honestly, then they'll make it. Bush: Drug lords' days 'numbered' Staff pholp by Robert Hlzzo An alleged cult member is presented to the press in Matamoros Associated Press SANTA ANA, Calif. President Bush on Friday claimed progress in the war on drugs, saying "The days of the drug lords are numbered," and asking TV producers to help portray the destructive potential of Bush compared anti-drug efforts to nations casting, out oppressive governments, saying, "people across America off the oppression of drugs." "Week by week, day by day; millions of Americans in thousands of towns are standing up to make the same courageous choice: drug-free neighborhoods, drug-free schools! Drug-free kids," he told several thousand school children at a rally spon- sored by Orange County's "Drug Use is Life Abuse" program. Earlier, in Los Angeles, Bush urged television industry producers to make anti-drug themes part of their programming. He called on the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences to make TV "a force for'positive change." At the celebrity-studded Santa Anna rally attended by 15,000 people, movie star Chuck Norris pledged to conquer drug traffickers in his next film.

The president broke the news of a massive local drug bust, nearly a half ton of cocaine worth $30 million on the street. The Orange County sheriff's office said it would not be able to release details on the street, but according to Li Olson, Bush's remarks would not hurt the prosecution..