Blog dedicated to reporting on Mexican drug cartels
on the border line between the US and Mexico
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Saturday, September 12, 2020

A California cartel sicario murdered dozens of people, and a new book says he almost got away with it

Chivis Martinez Borderland Beat   TY Gus Source

Note: I recall this case.  The self-identified  hitman for Sinaloa added that he cleaned society of scum as well.  Like child abusers.  He is one of those characters that fuel nightmares more than the I.D. channel or Borderland Beat.  For me anyway. Chivis


Jose Manuel Martínez was born and raised in California and blended in easily among the farm laborers of California’s San Joaquin Valley where he lived a modest and unassuming life. But in stark contrast to the adoring and dedicated family man he appeared to be, there was an evil flipside that allowed him to pursue a frightening line of work as a hitman and enforcer for a Mexican drug cartel—a wicked profession that he carried out with such precision and technique that he went undetected for decades and claimed the lives of dozens of victims.


Martinez tracked one victim to one of the wealthiest corners of America, a horse ranch in Santa Barbara, and shot him dead, setting off a decades-long manhunt. He shot another man, a farmer right in front of his young wife as they drove to work in the fields. The widow would wait decades for justice. Those were murders for hire. Others he killed for vengeance.

“The Devil’s Harvest” by Jessica Garrison is a captivating true crime story of unbelievable terror that shockingly spanned nearly four decades in California’s central coast and valley. Garrison is an investigative editor for Buzzfeed News and spent more than a decade as a reporter at the Los Angeles Times. This is her debut nonfiction work.

Garrison asked Martinez why he had murdered so many people and how he had gotten away with it for so long? How he could “kill without remorse” and sometimes “even relish” it, while at the same time be so kind and generous with his own family. Martinez “paused for a moment, and then he laughed ruefully. It’s a long story.”

In June 2013, Martinez was arrested for the murder of Jose Ruiz and eventually confessed to killing three dozen people in a murderous crime spree that crisscrossed numerous states between 1980 and 2011. In California, he pleaded guilty to nine counts of murder and was sentenced to life in prison and received similar sentences in other states. Most of his crimes were related for Mexican drug cartels, but he also killed out of revenge and pure anger. He claimed that all of his victims deserved to die because many of them had abused women or children.

So how did Jose Martinez manage to evade law enforcement for so long? According to Garrison, he was a sly, savvy character who knew how to circumvent a systemically prejudiced and often narrow-minded criminal justice system: If you killed the right people, people who were poor, non-white, and who didn’t have anyone to speak up for them, you could literally get away with murder. Well, almost get away with murder.

“The Devil’s Harvest” is a must-read for any true-crime aficionado and is a story that desperately needed to be told. It is well-researched and detailed—a riveting in-depth narrative that explores the complexities and failures of the criminal justice system. Jose Martinez murdered without consequence for decades. He left a trail of death and devastation within the migrant farm communities of California’s central valley, a community that was left reeling and pleading for justice that went unanswered for way too long.

“Year after year, Martinez operated with impunity. In Tulare County, where he lived for decades, officials suspected him of murder after murder and yet never charged him. Next door Kern County, where he also lived for a time and committed several murders, has one of the highest murder rates in California and one of the lowest murder-solve rates in the nation.”

Garrison’s years of investigative reporting adds credibility to the narrative and thoroughly details how law enforcement was able to track down and eventually capture Martinez, but she also controversially scrutinizes the failures that allowed the Mexican drug cartels and a psychopathic madman to roam free for decades: shockingly killing without most people ever hearing about it.

56 comments:

  1. Thx, Gus and Chivis. Looking forward this read!

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    1. Thank YOU both so much.
      I will read ASAP after I am out of IMMEDIATE Evacuation Zone due to CA. wildfires.
      Thank goodness, Chivis has none to close to her and may the God / Goddess bless her FF son.

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    2. Thank you Yaqui…. My son is 26 days straight in NorCal fires. No days off. Short handed because no prison inmate FF to help cause of Covid. They are missed. They are very well trained and love to help. Some have died in fires past.

      Stay safe Yaqui

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  2. Plenty of those bastards out there, that if u look at them wrong or act deferent they wanna hurt u , sick sobs

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    1. Thousands like him operate with impunity in the US.

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    2. Is that John Zimmerman

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    3. He does look like George Zimmerman doesn’t he

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  3. Boy he killed the poor working the fields and was a hitman. Detectives did not put a lot of effort, since it's out in rural areas. He does look like a weirdo.

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    1. 9:44 the more i read comment..im so happy i went to private catholic school,travel the world twice.i realize long ago equal is not for all
      I will embrace my previlege an area of uppity class ..i rather be surrounded by mansion than low caste of stupidity.i dont get stop by cops or have FRIENDS who live in jail
      Americans are dunce to not know WITHOUT California y would not eat..what does ALABAMA give to anyone Fat players and teen pregnancy
      How can anyone from there talk bad about California

      Thank god you PEOPLE live in eh DIFFERENT world $500 means SOMETHING,it doesn't to me.blknatsocialist have no time for pittance

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    2. Well 10:25 space rockets and missiles are made right down the road from me in "stupid" Alabama. Clearly you haven't traveled too extensively or you would not make such generalized stereotyped statements.

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  4. But this doesn't happen in the USA because handsome gun owners stop it all and save the day.

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    1. What a stupid comment lmao. You are a very ignorant person.

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    2. Mijo did you not read it happened to poor farmworkers, out there where no whites or blacks want the job of picking berries or grapes.

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    3. Only in your dreams the gun owner has to be "handsome!" What some Mexican citizens wouldn't do to be able to protect themselves and families with more than a .38 or a hunting rifle... Then again pencils make grammatical errors and automobiles are to blame for drunk driving! Usa la cabeza un poco, no solo es para tenerla sobre los hombros!

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    4. It may be a sarcastic comment but there's no ignorance behind, numerous BB readers throughout the years have said that can't happen because gun owners will stop it. Truth hurts.

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    5. 10:14 You again with the same comment in like 4 different articles? Soooo by your way of thinking. Since firefighters can't prevent all fires from starting they are irrelevant and we should get rid of them? What about doctors who can't prevent all cancers from happening? I suppose they should go as well. 🙄 You seem confused so allow me to clarify something for you. Guns aren't for preventing crimes. They are for shooting the dickheads that commit them.

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  5. Hell naw that’s the dude with the clicking teeth

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    1. 😂😂😂 he wasn’t like that all that medication they have him on did that weird shit

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  6. Seen a interview years ago about this dude when he got arrested obviously not the brightest person as a follower. Sad how people don’t have principals and morals and no I don’t think he has mental issues just another person that’s lazy and decided to go that route

    M”

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  7. Would think California easy place to get away with murder, the citizens r anti police.

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    1. 11:51 AM 90% of police don't solve murders. Their job is to answer phones when people call 911, do patrols around specific neighborhoods, work in schools documenting future criminals profiling these officers tend to get involved in the gang units, drug task forces ect, work in extortion giving citations for non violent crimes mainly traffic citations. Arrest people for drugs, DUIs, DWIs, anything that is a criminal offense and is found in cars or on your person, domestic violence calls, assault and battery calls, people calling them because they see someone suspicious. A dead body is found they call in forensics, coroner and detectives. The rest work in the jails. The detectives and forensics investigators are the one's that solve murders, The Coroners perform an autopsy when a body is brought to them they also go to the scene and pick up the body. I haven't seen anyone protesting against Detectives or Coroners or forensic investigators. I seen them protesting against the 80% that have turned themselves into a criminal gang with their blue line flags and their gang signs.

      Shoot you should open your eyes law enforcement has went from mainly targeting and attacking minorities to be an equal opportunity gang that will target just about anyone. Make sure you to lick the boot once you make contact with them because if you don't they will give you equality.

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    2. Wtf are you rambling about? You do realize that a few bad cops don't speak for all of em?by that logic a few bad white black latino asian or arab make the rest just as bad

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    3. 1:55 you are the exact problem with society. When you look in the mirror you’re looking at the problem. 1. Detectives are cops, you can’t be a detective without first being a patrolman/lwoman. 2. You list all the things that cops do for society and then claim that 80% are a criminal gang? You’re a really piece of work. I’m a Mexican immigrant so don’t waste your time using the racist card. Law enforcement literally put their life on the line everyday and pieces of work like you have the audacity to criticize them?!? If you can do a much better job then join the force! Risk your life everyday for a shitty salary. People like you will be the downfall of this society. I hope you reflect and grow the f up.

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    4. This dude couldn’t do this shit on Texan farmers, shot dead on the spot and buried so his body gives nutrients to the land. Too bad this happened in California

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    5. 1:55 boy your so smart, why don't you join the police, make sure you stay clean, as the body cam will be checking your every move.

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    6. 1:55...thank you for that thorough synopsis of the inner workings of policing and investigating. I’m assuming you’re on a break from a protest or BLM march since you had the time to write your absurd & ridiculous post. Maybe next time you get pulled over or break the law, hopefully the police don’t go as easy on you as they have in the past.

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    7. @1:55 wtf you on?

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  8. What a stupid comment by the author "if you kill non white you can get away with murder." Pleeaaaase lady..more than half the police officers and Detectives in CA are non white so quit with your bs liberal narrative. Quite expected from a LA Times writer however.

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    1. you comment is stupid... or ignorant at best.

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    2. 100% True and the statistics back that up, to the dismay of the radical left.

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    3. I couldn’t agree more, these buzzfeed/ LA Times “journalist” can help themselves, they have to inject their liberal racist BS in everything that they do. The Golden State Killer that was recently caught went decades before they finally caught him. He only killed white people and he killed a bunch of them. I would bought this book but the race baiting liberal BS is a deal breaker for me. I’m a Mexican immigrant so don’t play the racist BS with me.

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    4. You're incredibly naive if you think the victim's race does not matter. Not all victims are created equal. Remember the case of Karen Toshima? The Asian professional who was killed in a gang shootout in Westwood in 1988? It generated far more headlines and police sweeps than the hundreds of Black and Latino murder victims in the 1980's. Police departments who had given only casual thoughts to gangs were now asking about this Crip gang.
      All because one Asian chick was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Although Asians are numerically a minority, they are not considered such in the same sense as Blacks and Latinos. Mainly I think because white men covet Asian women, but that's another matter.

      "The black community has known for years that a problem is not a problem until it hits the white community,” complained then-Assemblywoman Maxine Waters. “There is a deep feeling in the black community that the philosophy of the police department was, ‘Let ‘em kill each other in South-Central L.A.’ ”
      Non-white cops are not immune to socio-political realities and pressures.

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    5. The author isn't saying this...the author is quoting what he said ""If you killed the right people, people who were poor, non-white, and who didn’t have anyone to speak up for them, you could literally get away with murder. Well, almost get away with murder."

      If you only had half a brain and knew wtf you're reading......pendejo... he's talking about people who won't report the crimes to police in fear of retribution by immigration officials who will put them on the radar for deportation and retribution by the criminal organizations.

      if you're afraid to speak to police, you won't report crime...someone kills you and your family won't report it and there's no one willing to testify in court against them.. you're fucked... no justice....it's not a stupid comment ..give me a fricking break.

      Making it political makes you sound like the biggest dumbass.

      Ive seen it and lived it. Don't draw anyone a map to a place you haven't been to.

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    6. So true... buzzfeed? Laughable
      Another liberal rag

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  9. Este amigo era gente de Benjamin y Ramón. De Ramón para ser más puntual.

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  10. Fresno aint no pusharounds

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  11. I think this was the guy busted because he left a cigarette butt at one of the crime scenes.
    11:51, the people of California aren't anti-police but they are anti-stupid!

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    1. 3:11 EXACTLY
      Then hard working detective got him
      Know he pretending he wish to get caught
      Never park in someone driveway,ok
      Let's go for eh ride;
      Get in.he so sick & trivial

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  12. The type of guy they send when you don’t want to pay. Thinking nothing will happen cause you in the states.....

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  13. @chivas See Mayo and RCQ are enemies!


    As we informed you, according to reports from Mexican authorities, although until last year Caro Quintero had good relations with the Sinaloa Cartel and its leaders Ismael "el Mayo" Zambada, as well as Los Chapitos, Iván Archivaldo Guzmán Salazar alias El Chapito, Jesús Alfredo Guzmán Salazar alias el Alfredillo and Ovidio Guzmán López alias el Ratón or Nuevo Ratón, that ended and now the Narco de Narcos seeks to recover the area that was once controlled by the hand of an armed group known as La Barredora and that together They call themselves the Caborca ​​Cartel or La Plaza, which fights for control of the area with the armed arms of the Sinaloans.

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  14. Great job guys!

    Kazquillo-Youtube

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  15. Documentary so much better
    Clap clap i never wanna chew gum again,kill with impunity
    But he love his daughter kids..oh he so nice
    Pick on the poor & vulnerable of his own
    Go chew gum in hell

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  16. Holy crap. Good find on book. That’s going on my wish list.

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  17. Yeah, I was just going to ask how he finally got caught , it would had been a good detail.

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  18. I beg your pardon. Two LA County sheriff’s deputy’s ambushed and severely wounded and blm protestors block emergency entrances at the hospital the deputies were taken while chanting “let them die,let them die”...

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    1. Female deputy applied tourniquet and saved partners life. Here is video
      And her foto https://twitter.com/Borderland_Beat/status/1305604625521762305
      https://twitter.com/GL0BALSETT/status/1305568227490254854

      People better be careful what they wish for, good cops are quitting in droves. What will remain? Killer cops like Derek Chauvin. That will be the norm.

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    2. 3:38 PM That works fine after the killer cops get it the good one's could return but are they truly good cops? Or they could do what they expect criminals to do once they threaten them with lengthy sentences and offer them a sweet deal turn their own in when they commit acts that go against their morals instead of keeping quit and watching them destroy others lives for the thrill.

      The black community is so destroyed for that very reason always being targeted always the easiest to target. What has that done to their community it has destroyed it. They turned it into their piggy bank where they could always take without worrying about anything happening.

      Compare the US based Hispanic community to the black community their are similarities but their are also major differences.

      I told you Chivis law enforcement has become and equal opportunity criminal gang with a silver platter. I told you how I would deal with the witness protection program that method would create a change in the way policing happens. What happened to those deputies was just a warning. An example of what can become a reality in the future. Both sides that oppose each other if united could make great changes inside the US. Drugs will always exist people will do them because they are looking for a distraction from a life they don't enjoy.

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    3. Decent cops need to stop confronting protesters just to show unity and brotherhood with the corporation, they can make their minds up freely and face the consequences freely too.
      Using community resources to cinfront protesyers with tear gas and bullets and batons and SEAT TEAMS after one of their own's FACK-UPS dors not look much like Serving or Protecting anything...they should hold court in public and dress down and drum out the officers at fault.
      Some michigan sheriff joined the protest march and he had no protester problem, join and support should do wonders to keep out black or white supremacist troublemakers.

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  19. Is the book available in spanish? And if yes what is it called?
    Thanks todos

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  20. Mi primo who served a full cut and some tours in the Marines would go each summer to work the fields. He would say in his best tone which always made me laugh before the start of the work day. "Children of the corn". He's a better story teller to. I love my primo. He fought for our freedom and I fight for his mind. He's all I got. If I'd of followed his plan this shit would be over with.

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    1. If he got an honorable discharge, your primo would not have to work the fields, something smells in your story.

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  21. Mfker has 2 personalities, killing his own Raza .

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    1. Isnt that always the case?

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    2. 6:51 cheaters, traitors and dead beats are nobody's race.
      On the other hand, boy is paying for his crimes, i think he used a gun on a personal job that got tracked back to him and connected to another cold case murder, you know, bullets can help connect the dots real easy.

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  22. Oh poor boy had a bad childhood jajaja. More death penalty please for more felons and faster and public. I recommend the Guillotine.

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  23. there’s more killers in the valley he’s just one we know about

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