Thursday, Nov. 15, 2012. Vasquez could not attend the meeting because of her parole restrictions. Elizabeth and Kristie moved in together as friends. Elizabeth was confused. Javier Limon was given as the reason his two daughters made accusations of sexual abuse against four women in 1994 that led to them being sent to prison. He never felt like Elizabeth took advantage of his kindness; helping people was just in his nature, he said. In the backseat of a car, Stephanie Limon (now Stephanie Martinez) read from a sheet of notebook paper. Cassandra Rivera, seen here Sept. 5, 2012, is currently in the Hobby Unit in Marlin, Texas. Testimony concluded on a Friday afternoon. Alejandre testified that she was told by Morales that Limon was killed because he avoided paying money he collected from drug transactions and went into hiding. Had she ever left her nieces under the care of her friends? She also testified that she felt scared as she was high on methamphetamines, stressed and confused when told there was a murder investigation. We were friends; me, Cassie, and Anna. Kristies parents were divorced and her mother, like Elizabeths, was uncomfortable with her daughters sexual orientation. He declined to comment, saying he thought the Express-News didn't properly represent his side in a 2010 story about the women. She saw them often. 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. . Vasquez's story could have happened to anyone, just as it did to her 19-year-old self, fresh out of high school. 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. On trips around the city for volleyball games, Anna would bring along a radio and theyd belt out Friends in Low Places by Garth Brooks. Alejandre is heard saying. A statue of a praying angel stands near Maria Vasquez, right, in her living room where Vasquez prayed daily for her daughter Anna Vasquez. When I handed him copies of the letters, he leafed through them disinterestedly. Had someone died? One of the women told a court that the accusations came after she spurned Limons advances for marriage. In the spare, gray courtroom, Cassie, who often wore denim overalls, had on a black dress with white flowers. Statis. 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. When Ramirez rebuffed him, her family claimed, Limon retaliated by. Elizabeths mother called her grandson to tell him that his mother would soon be released. Javiers older daughterwho, because she is still officially considered a victim of child sexual abuse, Ill identify with the initials VLtestified that after several carefree days at Elizabeths apartment, her aunt called her into the bedroom one afternoon and began shouting at her. They looked like celebrities inundated by paparazzi. Anna Vasquez, one of the four San Antonio women fighting to clear their names in the 1994 sexual assault of two sisters, was released from prison on parole, from the Crain Unit in Gatesville, TX. 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. District Attorney Susan Reed agreed that the women could be released on bond pending further legal wrangling in the spring, and that she wouldnt attempt a retrial. The prosecutors, as well as Javier when we spoke 15 years later, accounted for the inconsistencies by saying the girls were young children who could hardly be expected to keep facts straight. But still they were baffled. Limon's body was found by fieldworkers, and autopsy results showed that he suffered 10 gunshot wounds that struck his lung, heart and liver. Morales maintained that he was minding his own business and focused on appealing his prior criminal case to get out of prison, and denied any involvement in the murder. Spending on cops and tech at the border has increased ninefold in a decade. You got lucky! They used those letters in order to entrap me, he said. He checked out a video from the college library on female sexual predators. Her lawyer, Casie Gotro, is at left. While visiting her mother across the room, she would glare at Otto. Did you threaten him with pepper spray? the lawyer asked. When one reporter asked whom they blame, Kristie offered, I dont think we blame anybody. Ware jumped in and said the blame goes to a number of factors and people, and thats not something were going to get into.. Question ( 92735) Answer ( 32) Six months before graduation, overwhelmed with her work schedule, she dropped out of high school. Maybe the lawyer could explain to the authorities that no crime had occurred; it was just a malicious accusation orchestrated by a bitter man. But Elizabeth soon found problems there as well. A video of Anna Vasquez plays on a computer and is projected to an audience at a meeting of the San Antonio Crime Coalition on Saturday, Jan. 26, 2013. Monday, Dec. 3, 2012. Ramirezs two nieces, then 7 and 9, accused all four women of attacking and raping them with objects when the girls visited Ramirezs apartment in the summer of 1994. His packet of information about the case ended up on the desk of Debbie Nathan, a journalist who wrote Satans Silence, the seminal book on the satanic scandals, and who regularly vets cases for the organization. His sister, Cristina, became increasingly angry as she told me, I remember [Javiers older daughter] telling me that they touched them, moving their hands back and forth down there. Vasquez was recently released on parole, but the other women remain behind bars. There had been other little kidsCassies kids and some neighborsin the apartment throughout the week, but now she was adamant that she and her sister had been the only children. 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. Serafina had said Elizabeth was suspiciously dour when she brought the girls back after the week at the apartment. Michael Barajas 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? He was an ex-boyfriend of Ramirez's sister who the family said had made romantic advances toward the much younger Ramirez. 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. She served 12 and a half years. Javier told me that his daughter wants this all to go away, that she still wakes up in the night crying about what happened to her, and that hell do anything he can to protect her. She was still leaking milk when the police took her to jail. Most of the time, as he learned from reading scientific journals, these women are teachers who fall in love with a student. Anna Vasquez fills in answering phones at her brother David Vasquez's auto shop on N. WW White on Feb. 19, 2013, while he is out of town. I miss everyone cause Im not able to see and be home with them, one read, but most of all I miss my son. Police were on the phone, saying her two nieces then ages 7 and 9 had accused Ramirez and three of her friends of sexually. He did not testify Monday but is expected to this week. In its ruling, the state's highest criminal court blames the saga on a vindictive man named Javier Limon, the girls' father and Ramirez's one-time brother-in-law. The prosecutions expert witness was a doctor named Nancy Kellogg, who estimated that she had examined roughly 3,500 sexual assault victims, most of them children. Elizabeth's brother-in-law, Javier Limon, father to the two accusers, had been pursuing Elizabeth romantically, and was angry that she rejected his advances. Do you know anything about where she learned it? Serafina asked. They worked together at a nursing home, where the residents would constantly tell Gloria what a caring and charming girl she had raised. Discovery channel documentary 'Southwest of Salem: the Story of the San Antonio Four' unravels the case against lesbians accused of abuse. He knew what was going to hurt me the most, she told me. Anna Vasquez could not attend the meeting because of her parole restrictions. 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. 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. An affidavit submitted by a CPS caseworker outlines multiple accusations against the couple, from having a filthy apartment to being violent with each other, which they both deny. In her original statement to police, there had been no gun, but now there was one. Her relationship with her mother improvedGloria co-signed for Elizabeths new apartment. She wanted a relationship with me. Shifts at AutoZone. Javiers sister Cristina agreed: Shes going to flip on the recantation, to get back at her mom.. I will make things right, and I am sorry for everything I put you through. was an incident when their father, Javier Limon . If you support this mission, we need your help. Javier Limon . Matjeka told Elizabeth that if she had committed a crime, her sondue in about five monthswould probably be taken by the authorities. Rosemary recounted years later that Javier threatened her family. On Valentines Day 1998, a Saturday morning, all three were convicted of the same crimes as Elizabeth: aggravated sexual assault of a child and indecency with a child. Kristie, still unemployed, pawned a radio. She had just gotten home from a shift at Arbys, where she had recently been promoted to manager. A sentence of 37 and a half years was a compromise between more and less lenient jurors. She liked to balance on the balls of her feet, leading her mother to joke that maybe she would become a ballerina. She had examined VL and her sister and seen a scar on the hymen that was about two to three millimeters, a scar normally caused by penetration. VLs mood, Kellogg said, was guileless or uncontrived, that is she did not appear to be holding back information or embellishing or adding information., Elizabeth took the stand in her own defense. Delevan, the prosecutor, said she hadnt prosecuted the women for their sexual orientation. Anna Vasquez (left), Cassandra Rivera and Kristie Mayhugh (right) were tried together and were sentenced to 15 years, which began in 2000 after they lost their only appeal. A wiry, bearded man appears on camera and tells them the building was torn down. But Javiers sister, Cristina Aguilar, described Javier very differently. By Limon was the boyfriend of Ramirez's sister at the time. Matjeka's tone grew less friendly. On Saturday evening, officers were called to the apartment. She had not spoken to him for 13 years, though family members had updated her on his growth, his football games and his girlfriends, and informed her that he was staying out of trouble. He is now 18, with a job and a girlfriend. He stormed away. Thats so rude, she said. The new technology was fascinating, but so were social mores. Yeah, theyre all gay and were friends, but that doesnt mean its a gay relationship. Though Annas family was more accepting than the others, she still remembers gawking looks whenever she and Cassie would stroll together at carnivals. Alejandre later was promised by police that her charges would be dismissed if she agreed to cooperate with their investigation and also testify. A tearful Anna Vasquez, left, embraces her mother Maria Vasquez. 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. I trusted Elizabeth, that she wasnt going to hurt my daughters, he said. During that conversation, which was played to the jury, Alejandre could be heard asking Morales who killed Limon. Cassies mother had kicked her out of the house, so Cassie stayed sometimes at Elizabeth and Kristies apartment. Prison was a place of endless routine, and so she started one of her own. Everyone laughed. Cassie and Anna tried to meticulously recreate what had happened the week of the alleged crimes. They were each sentenced to 15 years, but the judge decided they could remain out of prison until their appeals had been exhausted. A local judge still must make recommendations to the Court of Criminal Appeals about whether to throw out the convictions and how to rule on some of the womens lawyers arguments. Booking mugshots of Elizabeth Ramirez (from left), Kristie Mayhugh, Anna Vasquez and Cassandra Rivera. He continued typing. The bottom line is this, prosecutor Philip Kazen countered: VL was very clear about specifics in terms of time, place, and content of the sexual assault. Kazen, who is now a judge, didnt respond to multiple interview requests. When the jury announced her guilt, Elizabeth remembers her mother standing up and screaming, No! Allowed five minutes to say goodbye to her family, Elizabeth was then escorted to a holding cell, where she fainted. You can chip in for as little as 99 cents a month. We met once at the colleges library, and then later at a Whataburger, where he takes his kids so often that he knows the staff well. Elizabeth was completely lost in the huddle. When Elizabeth had entered the courtroom, the girl who was accusing her of sexual abuse had waved at her and smiled. During a cross-examination, Kazen, the prosecutor, broke the flow of his questions to ask, Am I intimidating you up here? Please notify us by email that the article will be republished at, I Confronted the Man Whose Crime Put Me in Prison, Observer Radio Episode 50: Greg Abbott Had a Rough Week, Border Security Is a Financial Black Hole that Will Consume Us All. He didnt want to let me go.. Maria Vasquez (right), mother of Anna Vasquez, shakes hands with Gloria Herrera (left), mother of Elizabeth Ramirez, as Anna Vasquez's aunt, Valeria Pachecano stands in between during a meeting of the San Antonio Crime Coalition on Saturday, Jan. 26, 2013. It was nearly silent, except for little clusters of words between the sobs. A boot-wearing, quiet man with a wide smile and blond hair mopped down on his forehead, Ware had worked for years with the Conviction Integrity Unit at the Dallas County District Attorneys office, which investigated old cases for possible wrongful convictions, and helped exonerate dozens of men. He went on to have another bitter custody battle with his next partner, Carina Hooper, who described him to me as hurtful, mean, a sociopath, and said he accused her son of sexually abusing their daughter, and reported Hooper for neglect to Child Protective Services. 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. The most painful memory of that day was being separated from my newborn son, she later wrote. The scene of the crime had vanished. Javier told me he testified in court on the matter, but that the police filed the CPS report, not him. I showed the letters and samples of Javiers handwriting to several forensic document examiners. There was a problem saving your notification. Prosecutor Cindy Gresser later pointed to Alejandre's plea form that she had signed, noting the form indicated she must obey all laws, keep in contact with Morris and follow his terms. Elizabeths lawyer, Freddy Ruiz, tried to get VL to say that she was mixed up, and that the gun had actually been wielded by her father Javier in Colorado. Vasquez and cassandra Rivera this week until their appeals had been exhausted one reporter asked they. 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