SALINAS — A suspected group of Norteño gang members that allegedly called themselves the “Murder Squad” planned shootings to commemorate their slain friends, assigned members as shooters or to run “police interference,” and “required a willingness to kill” of anyone who joined, according to recent court filings by federal prosecutors.
The filings — made as attorneys debated a failed attempt by one of the defendants to be freed on bail with pending murder charges — offer new details into the alleged Norteño clique that authorities have blamed for at least eight murders and five nonfatal shootings. Six people linked to the group face federal racketeering and murder charges filed last October.
“One of the disturbing aspects of the murder squad is that anyone who wanted to become a ‘certified’ member needed to prove that they were willing to kill someone,” assistant U.S. Attorneys wrote in court papers opposing the release of Anelu Tavale. “This willingness to kill was a prerequisite for entrance to the murder squad, and participating in shootings was a means to maintain or elevate one’s status with the murder squad.”
One homicide victim, whom authorities describe as an innocent bystander, was shot at 35 times — allegedly by a group that included Tavale — as he walked down North Hebbron Avenue in Salinas. It occurred on Nov. 3, 2018, a date picked by the group because it was the birthday of a Boronda Boys gang member who’d died, prosecutors said. Five months earlier, prosecutors said Tavale played a lookout role in a “security” vehicle that was part of a caravan.
Prosecutors added that, “frequently, targets were selected based on their appearance rather than any actual information that the victims were (rival) Sureños.”
Tavale’s attorney argued that he could be released to a family member on $250,000, writing in a legal motion that Tavale has strong ties to the community that give him an incentive against fleeing the area, and contending prosecutors hadn’t proved allegations Tavale would endanger the community.
“Mr. Tavale has no criminal history to speak of despite the present indictment indicating that the shootings were carried out by gang members,” Tavale’s attorney, Jay Rorty, wrote court filings. “The government’s argument that Mr. Tavale is a danger to the community is premised on the second superseding indictment alone. And when pressed by the Court to ‘give a more detailed proffer about the nature and circumstances of [Mr. Tavale’s] involvement in the events charged’ the government could not offer anything more aside from what was alleged in the indictment.”
Earlier this month, U.S. District Judge Beth Freeman affirmed a federal magistrate judge’s earlier decision to deny bond for Tavale.
A trial date for the group has not yet been set. The defendants are next due in court for a status conference on Friday before Freeman.
