San Diego, California – Federal prosecutors say a Yakima man at the center of a sprawling drug trafficking conspiracy has admitted to killing a man, his pregnant wife, and—by extension—the couple’s unborn child.
In federal court this week, 35-year-old Benjamin Madrigal-Birrueta, an undocumented Mexican national living in Yakima, pleaded guilty to two counts of murder and acknowledged that both killings were carried out as part of his drug operation. The details of his plea agreement paint a harrowing picture.
On August 28, 2022, prosecutors say Madrigal-Birrueta and his associates shot 44-year-old Cesar Murillo in the back of the head and torso at a remote ranch outside Yakima. According to the plea, Murillo had been embroiled in an argument with Madrigal-Birrueta’s crew over an unpaid drug debt. After the killing, Murillo’s body was buried near the ranch on Madrigal-Birrueta’s orders…