CHICAGO — A 32-year-old Chicago man is facing three counts of first-degree murder after authorities say he fatally shot three construction workers over a payment dispute involving $2,300 — then fled to Mexico.
Vilmer Alcaraz, the accused, was extradited back to Chicago last week and is now being held without bail following a detention order by Judge Shauna Boliker. Prosecutors allege that Alcaraz gunned down the men in a premeditated act of violence on November 10, 2023, in the city’s Ashburn neighborhood.
Workers Found Dead In SUV
Chicago police responded to multiple 911 calls and a ShotSpotter alert around 4:30 p.m. that day, discovering the bodies of Fernando Najero-Patino, 28, Carlos Lopez-Orozco, 38, and Juan Marrufo-Romero, 36, slumped inside a Buick Enclave parked in the 8300 block of South Pulaski Road. All three had suffered multiple gunshot wounds.
Authorities later identified the victims as laborers who had been hired to perform concrete work at properties belonging to Alcaraz’s sister and her neighbor.
Payment Dispute Turns Deadly
According to a proffer from the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office, the workers had completed jobs at the residences and were waiting to collect payment. A notebook recovered from the scene included Alcaraz’s sister’s address and noted a total owed of approximately $2,300…