Murder of Mark Kilroy

Victim Mark James Kilroy was born on March 5, 1968, in Chicago, Illinois, U.S. His parents were James William "Jim" Kilroy (1943–2024), a chemical engineer, and Helen Josephine Kilroy (1944–2014), a volunteer paramedic. His reputation for predicting the future and offering ritual cleansing became popular with some drug dealers, musicians, and police officers. Investigators believed that Aldrete's physical attractiveness and charm helped her lure men to join the cult or to set them up to be abducted and killed. She recruited people by first showing them the 1987 thriller film The Believers, which was about a New York City-based cult that practiced human sacrifice for money and influence. Constanzo's members were forced to see the film again and again in order to indoctrinate them to the necessity of human sacrifice. Students and teachers at her college in Brownsville recalled her as a friendly and studious physical education student who showed no signs of abnormal behavior or involvement with a religious cult. Across the border in Matamoros, however, Aldrete was involved in drug smuggling operations and in cult activities. Some of her former classmates found it suspicious that she drove a 1989 vehicle with an embedded telephone, while others recall she preferred to dress in black. Investigators believed that her proximity to the U.S.-Mexico border allowed Aldrete to keep her two lives separate for years. Because of her contradictory lifestyle, law enforcement believed that Aldrete was living a double life and showed signs and symptoms of having a multiple personality disorder. The ranch where Kilroy was murdered in Matamoros, Santa Elena, was owned by Brigido Hernández. He was not a follower of Constanzo and was not charged with any crimes in the U.S. or Mexico. The sudden death of Saul Hernandez in a shooting prompted his family, including Elio and his brothers Serafín Sr. and Ovidio, to grow closer to rituals and eventually become members of Constanzo's cult. Elio reportedly offered Constanzo half of his family's drug proceeds in exchange for his criminal contacts and supernatural protection for his family. ==Spring break trip==

Prior to disappearance On March 10, 1989, Kilroy's childhood friend Bradley Moore finished exams early at Texas A&M University and headed to Austin to pick him up. Both of them then headed to Santa Fe to pick up two other friends, Bill Huddleston and Brent Martin, before heading to South Padre Island, Texas, for spring break. After a foggy, 9-hour drive to South Texas, they arrived at South Padre Island shortly before midnight. They checked in at the Sheraton Hotels and Resorts the next morning before heading to the beach. There were few tourists when Kilroy and Moore initially arrived at South Padre Island at the beginning of the five-week spring break season; as the weekend progressed, thousands of students from the entire U.S. began to arrive. Beer sponsors were staging a variety of entertainment events, including free movies, music concerts, calls home, surf-simulator activities, and opportunities to appear on TV commercials. Kilroy and Moore made free phone calls to their parents that day. Later that evening, they met a group of female students from Purdue University and partied until the next morning. The following morning, Kilroy and his friends had more or less a daily routine in mind. They went to the beach in the morning and suntanned before lunch. After lunch they went to the beach area behind their hotel for the daily Miss Tanline contest. Once the event was over that afternoon, Kilroy headed to the hotel for a quick nap before planning their trip to Mexico. They left South Padre Island that evening and stopped for dinner at a Sonic Drive-In in Port Isabel, Texas, where they met a group of female students from University of Kansas who were planning to party in Mexico as well. The women then followed Moore's car from Port Isabel to Brownsville and parked their cars close to the Gateway International Bridge before crossing the U.S.-Mexico border on foot. Kilroy's friends and the Kansas women spent most of their evening at Sergeant Pepper's night club in Matamoros before the groups went their separate ways. Kilroy and his friends then returned to South Padre Island early the next morning. On March 13, Kilroy and his friends attended another Miss Tanline contest behind the Sheraton. Early in the evening, Kilroy met with one of his former frat brothers at a condo party. At around 10:30 p.m. CT, Kilroy and his friends headed back to Matamoros. They parked on the border and crossed on foot again. That night, Matamoros was flooded with 15,000 spring tourists from the U.S. on the city's main tourist street, Álvaro Obregón. The sidewalks, street, and night clubs were packed with foreign tourists looking to enjoy cheap alcohol and enjoy Mexico's lax drinking laws. When they got to Matamoros, Kilroy and his friends decided to go to the bar with the shortest waiting line. They ended up at Los Sombreros, a bar with rock music and bright neon. After a few drinks, Kilroy and his friends left Los Sombreros and wandered to London Pub, which rebranded itself as Hardrock Café for spring break. This bar was louder and wilder than Los Sombreros, and Kilroy and his friends stood at the bar while other tourists threw beer from the balcony. Kilroy met with a few women at the bar and was not seen by his friends for a while. Around 2:00 a.m. CT, Huddleston suggested the group head back to South Padre Island. As his friends stepped out of London Pub, they saw Kilroy leaning against a car and talking to a woman from Miss Tanline. Across Álvaro Obregón street, thousands of tourists were leaving the bars and heading to Brownsville, but others moved in different directions. The large crowd of people made it difficult for Kilroy and his friends to walk across the border uninterrupted and in a group. Disappearance Moore and Martin separated from the group and walked to García's, a popular restaurant-store close to the border. Kilroy stopped at the steps of a house on Álvaro Obregón to say good-bye to the woman from Miss Tanline. He then waited for Huddleston to walk towards him. Huddleston then ran to a nearby alley to urinate while Kilroy waited for him. By the time Huddleston came out and caught up with the other two near García's, Kilroy had vanished. His friends searched for him for hours, even after the establishments had closed and the streets had cleared at around 4:30 a.m. CT. They then crossed the border thinking Kilroy may have crossed to Brownsville and was perhaps waiting near their parked car. His friends did not find him near their car and waited a few minutes in Brownsville before returning to South Padre Island. They thought that Kilroy probably left for the hotel with someone else. They woke up the next day at the hotel and Kilroy's whereabouts were still unknown. His friends then contacted the police to report him missing. ==Investigation==

The search for Kilroy initially began as a routine missing persons investigation. Students that were reported missing in Matamoros in the past would often turn up in the following days with a hangover and blurry memory of what had happened to them. "Yeah", the caretaker told the police. "I saw him", and then pointed at the shack at the ranch. When the police interrogated Hernández García separately, he confessed that several people, including Kilroy, had been killed over the course of several months at Santa Elena. Reactions On April 13, a religious ceremony initially intended to revive hope for Kilroy's safe return turned into a memorial service a day after his body was discovered. The service was held at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church in Santa Fe. Many local residents attended the service and about 150 children pinned yellow ribbons outside the church's trees to rally in favor of Kilroy. After the ceremony, Kilroy's friends stated that they wished they had stayed in Texas to party instead of going to Mexico. At St. Luke Catholic Church in Brownsville, over 1,200 people attended a memorial service to support Kilroy's parents. Several of the attendees wore yellow ribbons with "Miss you Mark" written on them, and waited in line after the service was over to express their condolences to Kilroy's parents. The Kilroy family showed deep faith and conviction while speaking to the press. Kilroy's father spoke about the murder and told the press that they were not angry with the killers. He hoped that if and when those responsible for Kilroy's death go to heaven and see their son, they can apologize to him for their wrongdoing. Kilroy's mother told others to pray for the murderers. On April 15, Kilroy's parents met with U.S. President George H. W. Bush and William Bennett, who headed the Office of National Drug Control Policy. They told the politicians that for every drug consumer, there is a victim who suffers from their addiction. In addition, he stated that drug consumption should be treated with better education, and that the use of drugs, even casually, causes suffering. Bush described the case as "very sensitive", and Bennett stated that Kilroy's murder was mourned nationwide but that the parents were able to turn their suffering to a "very good effort". After the meeting, the parents stated that although Bush and Bennett were not specific on the actions their administration would take to fight drugs and enforce it at a local, state, and federal level, they were satisfied that the government was looking in the "right direction". They praised the efforts of the government in asking citizens what could be done to improve their country. Kilroy's father concluded that change required the government to do its part, but that it also required every citizen of the country to put in their effort to make it happen. Two weeks after the bodies were exhumed from Santa Elena, the Mexican Federal Police returned to the ranch early in the morning to burn down the shack and lay a wooden cross above the ashes. Reportedly, the police took a curandero (folk-healer) to purify the shack before burning it down. The curandero went inside the house, said a few prayers, sprinkled the floor with salt, and concluded by making the sign of the cross. The policemen then proceeded to spray gasoline around the shack before setting it on fire. The Mexican government offered no official explanation for their actions, but a source close to the investigation stated that the police's motives were supernatural in nature. They said that they knew the shack meant a lot to Constanzo and burning it would make him go insane; "[We] would hit him where it hurts", the police said. The next morning, Constanzo reportedly went into a rage after the arson was shown on national television. ==Manhunt for cult members==

By murdering Kilroy, Constanzo attracted international attention and forced the Mexican government to focus their efforts on bringing him, and those involved, to justice. He also stated that he participated in Kilroy's murder and in other killings at Santa Elena, but both agreed that Constanzo did most of the killings himself. Aldrete denied participation in the killings and stated that she was unaware of them until she saw the victims on national television. She said she was sorry to hear about Kilroy's murder. She stated that she was not an official member of the cult and was barely going through the initiation. In addition, she stated she was held prisoner during Constanzo's hiding in Mexico City. When asked if she was in love with Constanzo, she denied it and said that she was only his follower. Fearing that Constanzo might have purposely faked his own death, investigators conducted fingerprint analysis. They concluded that the corpse was indeed Constanzo's. Constanzo's 9mm Uzi submachine gun and his supposed suitcase were never formally presented by the police as seized items. On May 15, a judge refused to set bail for the individuals arrested that day because they were wanted for crimes accumulating over 50 years in prison. ==Criminal sentences==

On August 27, 1989, Orea Ochoa was admitted to a hospital in after being diagnosed with AIDS. The police said that he and Aldrete were Constanzo's lovers, but that Aldrete showed no signs of the disease in her immune system. On June 10, 1993, drug trafficking charges against Ovidio and Ponce Torres were dropped in the U.S without a stated reason. On May 3, 1994, Aldrete was sentenced to 62 years in prison. Cult members Elio, Serafín Jr., Martínez Salinas, and Serna Valdez, received 67 years each. In an interview with the press, Kilroy's parents stated that they were relieved to hear that the cultists were sentenced. The charges were multiple homicide (31 years), possession of narcotics (12 years), involvement in organized crime (5 years), police impersonation (2 years), illegal body desecration (2 years), illegal possession of firearms (10 years), and illegal possession of weapons exclusive to the Mexican Armed Forces (5 years). The Mexican federal judge explained that the reason Aldrete received fewer years in prison than the rest was because she was not charged with using weapons that were military-exclusive, which carries a five-year maximum sentence. He also stated that the maximum conviction a person in Mexico can receive for capital murder is 50 years. Since Mexico's judicial system does not have parole, it allows for prisoners to file motions at an appeal court to reduce their sentences after several years. Whether this condition is denied or granted, inmates can then push for a writ of amparo. On March 27, 1998, a Mexican federal court reduced the sentences of Elio, Serna Valdez, and Martínez Salinas by 17 years, lowering their sentences from 67 total years to 50. Since the death penalty and life sentences are not part of Mexico's judicial system, reductions for charges that are over 50 years are common. In addition, individuals like the cult members, who were charged with murder and other serious crimes that push the total punishment sum above 50 years for capital murder, often have their sentences reduced by an appeal court. If the individuals were first-time offenders, as the cult members were, an appeals court may determine that it is reasonable to reduce their sentences. Elio was sent to a prison in Ciudad Victoria, Tamaulipas. The other two were sent to Federal Social Readaptation Center No. 1 in Almoloya, State of Mexico. As of 2009, only two suspects remained at large, Ovidio and Ponce Torres, and were wanted for Kilroy's murder in Mexico. Claims of innocence Aldrete spoke to the press in 2003 and denied her participation in Kilroy's murder and in the cult killings. She stated that it was impossible for investigators to understand what had happened at Santa Elena because the biggest evidence in the case, Constanzo, was dead. Aldrete also stated that the police hid the names of famous people involved with Constanzo for their own convenience. She concluded by stating that she believed in God and was not going to ask society for forgiveness because she was innocent of the crimes. The following year, Aldrete interviewed with the press again and stated that she had been tortured to confess. She said she had been stripped naked, blindfolded, beaten upside down, and then had her toenails yanked. Aldrete claimed she was beaten so severely that doctors told her she would never be able to have children. In the early 2000s, she published an autobiography where she detailed how she met Constanzo and the group, her experiences when she was allegedly taken hostage by Constanzo, her mistreatment by authorities, and her versions of the story. Aldrete claimed she visited Constanzo in Mexico City and was then taken hostage after Constanzo decided to not let her go because he believed that she would go to the police and tell them where they were hiding. She claimed that Constanzo and the rest of the group were unaware of the killings that occurred in Matamoros until they found out that the police were looking for them, but went into hiding nonetheless because they feared for their lives. She detailed her alleged mistreatment in jail, and how she underwent beatings, psychological torture, rape, and an unfair trial. Her version of Constanzo's death was different than the official one; she stated that Constanzo was executed by the police when they raided the apartment. She also questioned the police's decision to burn down the shack in Santa Elena, since it was crucial for the investigation and probably contained the fingerprints of the murderers. In an interview with the press in 2014, Serafín and Martínez Salinas gave their versions of the story and proclaimed their innocence. Serafín stated that the Federal Judicial Police commander Juan Benítez Ayala found Serafín guilty because he was related to Elio and Ovidio. He said he was not arrested at the ranch, but rather at Elio's in-law's house in Matamoros. He said he grew up in Houston and moved to Brownsville for college, and that he was in Matamoros visiting his family when he was taken by the police. Serafín said he had been tortured by the Mexican and U.S. police in Matamoros to confess his participation in Kilroy's murder and in the killings at Santa Elena. He said he was allegedly beaten and told that he and his family would be killed if he spoke English during his declaration. He said he was a student of Texas Southmost College and knew who Aldrete was, but did not have any connection with her. Serafín also stated that he had never met Constanzo and had no idea his family ranch was a gathering place for his cult. He said that he had never dug up the bodies and had been taken to the ranch after the bodies were already exhumed. Martínez Salinas, on the other hand, stated that he was forced to confess because he was a neighbor at Santa Elena and driver of the Hernández family. He said he had been beaten and taken to the ranch where he was told to pose with the exhumed bodies. When asked if he had ever met Constanzo, he stated that he had seen him in person at the ranch with the Hernándezes but never talked to him. Martínez Salinas said he was arrested one afternoon at Elio's in-law's house when he was looking for a part for his car. He said he had known Aldrete years before, since he had dated one of her sisters when he was young. He said that he had never heard Aldrete talk about the cult. He said she had talked about her school and marriage. He also said that Elio and Ovidio never invited him to the cult or talked to him about it. ==Legacy==

Two months after Kilroy was confirmed dead, his parents founded the Mark Kilroy Foundation which promotes drug awareness, education, and prevention through the "Just Say No" campaign. Since Kilroy's dream was to become a doctor after college, his parents decided to help others and continue his dream through this program. Since 1994, the foundation has sponsored and worked alongside Substance Abuse Free Environment (SAFE), a non-profit community group that promotes awareness for substance abuse and drug prevention. Both of them partner with the Santa Fe local government, its school system, and the ones nearby, and with businesses and private donors, to provide programs for the entire year. The full-time and part-time counselors visit school campuses during the academic year in Santa Fe and Hitchcock to hold programs for approximately 800 students regularly. When students are gone for the summer, the foundation conducts programs in summer camps by partnering with volunteers. They offer free outdoor activities like archery, golf, fishing, tennis, and swimming. An average of 550 youth participate in these programs every summer. According to Kilroy's father, the purpose of these summer activities is to keep the youth occupied when they are not in school so they do not get bored and think about consuming drugs. In September 1999, the foundation signed an agreement with the U.S. Federal government to receive ten yearly grants of $100,000. By the tenth year, the government intended to stop the funding and expect the foundation to be self-supporting. However, Kilroy's parents stated that the yearly expenses exceeded $160,000 and that they would need to find new ways to make up the deficit. The Mark Kilroy Foundation was one of the five non-profit organizations in Galveston County that receives proceeds from a bingo place in La Marque, Texas. They also receive proceeds from sales of the book Sacrifice, written by Kilroy's father and Bob Stewart in 1990. Besides counseling children and teenagers with drug advice, Kilroy's parents also advise young people who plan to travel for spring break, suggesting to stay in groups, keep an eye on each other and not wander off on their own. They also suggest tourists be aware of travel warnings and abide by foreign laws and regulations when they travel outside the U.S., though they reiterated that people can get hurt in the U.S. too. ==Aftermath==

After Kilroy was confirmed dead, the media framed the drug group and their religious practices as Satanist. For the most part, the U.S. media labeled the group as Satanist and gave little mention to the drug-related violence that was widespread in northern Mexico, thus failing to provide a wider picture of what happened at Matamoros. Reports concluded that because human body parts were found inside a large metal pot, the group practiced cannibalism. Some journalists made the error of attributing cannibalism with the common mistake of satanist groups sacrificing and eating human remains. Other writers, however, stated that Constanzo believed in Kadiempembe, the devil in Palo Mayombe. Kilroy's mother said she received a cross from a Brownsville woman when she was searching for her son in 1989. "It's a reminder every time that I know that the Lord was involved in everything", she said, while she touched and showed the cross around her neck. ==Sources==