Simon Rios

 

I started researching this case and then I almost decided not to continue. Since the case ended in a guilty plea and ultimately in the suicide of the defendant in prison there is not a lot of information out there that can really be “nailed down” and verified. But, I decided to continue for a few reasons. First, there are the heinous crimes that Rios committed, first the murder of an innocent young girl and then five days later to his own family including his wife and three young daughters. Secondly, there were questions raised as to why Rios was not deported to his home country of Mexico prior to committing murder. I will try to discuss both issues at length and explain what I can. In the end, and as always, I welcome feedback to possibly explain some of the things I could not or to clarify any confusing issues that I may have.

Simon Rios lived in Fort Wayne Indiana with his wife, Ana and their three daughters, Liliana, Katherinne and Thannya. In 2005 the girls were ten, four and almost two years old. Both Simon and Ana were from Mexico. I cannot say how long they had been in the United States, or even Fort Wayne for that matter. All I can say is that neighbors would say in 2005 that they had lived in their home about four years. It appears as if the neighborhood they lived in had many immigrants. After Simon Rios was caught for his crimes there were questions and comments about his status living in the United States. I could find nothing that was very specific other than to say he was a “foreign national.” I looked up the definition of this term and all it really said was “a person who is not a naturalized citizen of the country they are living.” People with legal status to be in the United States via green cards and other things are considered to be foreign nationals. In fact, while I may be wrong, I believe the definition was very vague and may include anyone not born in the country they live or considered a natural citizen.

In February of 2002 Simon had been charged with a DUI. He received a suspended sentence. In May of 2003 he pleaded guilty to domestic battery. Again he received a suspended sentence with supervised probation. It has been questioned as to why he was not deported after these incidents and the only answer I have is that he was here legally, but I could be wrong.

On December 8, 2005 ten year old Alejandra Gutierrez left her home and headed to her school bus stop just down the road from her Fort Wayne home. It was said that her mother watched her reach the bus stop but Alejandra never made it on the bus, let alone to school that day. Her family would report her missing and the neighborhood would come together and support the family. One of the first visitors was Simon Rios. Alejandra and Simon's daughter, Liliana had been in the same class the previous school year. For the next several days there were people searching for Alejandra.

Then on the early morning of December 13^th a 911 call was made. Some reports say that it was a call about a suicidal person, others claim it was to report the murders of Ana Casas-Rios and her three daughters. Either way, when law enforcement got to the Rios home they found Simon on the porch and the bodies of his four family members laid out on one of the beds inside the home. Immediately upon his arrest the community began asking if he could have been involved with Alejandra's disappearance. Law enforcement would make a public statement that they believed the two incidences were not connected. They would soon learn that they were very wrong.

It appears that not long after being taken into custody Simon not only confessed to the murders of his family, but he also confessed to knowing what happened to Alejandra Gutierrez. As far as his family would go Simon would claim that he and Ana had an argument over “chores” in the house. He confessed to first hitting her in the head with a steel pipe and then taking an extension cord and strangling her. The order in which he killed his daughters is not clear but he confessed to using the extension cord on both his oldest daughter, Lilana and his youngest, Thannya. As far as his middle child, Katherinne, he claimed to have used his hands to strangle her. Apparently an investigation and autopsies would confirm this to be true. However, one thing I was left confused about was the fact that for this crime, aside from murder, he was charged with two counts of moving a body from a death scene. I am unsure that I have ever really seen this charge and it seems odd here considering there was no indication that any of the family members were murdered outside the home. My only explanation would be that he possibly killed two of the children in another room and moved them to the room with their mother and sister. As I stated earlier all four bodies were found on a bed in one of the bedrooms. It was said that the bodies had been laid there and staged.

Then there was the story of what happened to Alejandra. According to reports Simon confessed that he had lured her from the bus stop, just two doors from his own home, into his van. Simon would claim that a seventeen year old by the name of Juan Rosales would be with him and that the two of them had raped and murdered her. All of this apparently though happened some fifty miles away from Fort Wayne and near Muncie Indiana in another county. He informed law enforcement where to find her body in a gravel pit.

Investigators found Alejandra's body on December 19^th, but they could not completely confirm all of Simon's story for at least a few days. Her body was completely frozen and they had to wait before they could perform an autopsy. Juan Rosales was arrested however initially due to being a minor his name was not released.

Since there is little information on Rosales I want to just go ahead and end his story here before I continue with Simon. To be fair I could not determine a lot about Rosales. I found a reference that he would be charged with “being delinquent by false reporting.” I have absolutely no idea what he allegedly false reported and was confused how this related to Alejandra, or even if it was related to her at all. I never found anything relating to DNA in this case so I can only assume that there either was none or none relating to him found in this case.

It appears that Simon Rios pleaded guilty in both the cases involving Alejandra and his family. How and when was a bit confusing. There was an indication in some information that all of his sentencing for both cases was conducted on both days but there were other indications that it was as it should have been, two different times; two different courts.

It appears that both prosecutors in Allen County (Fort Wayne) and Delaware County (Muncie) wanted to seek the death penalty. Neither prosecutor would eventually move forward with the death penalty because the victim's families did not want this. Alejandra's family was devout Catholics and felt it was against their religion. As far as Ana's family, they came from Mexico for Simon's sentencing but they too had informed investigators that they did not want the death penalty for him. The Allen County Prosecutor made it very clear to the court that she absolutely believed he deserved the death penalty and the only reason she was not seeking that sentence was per the wishes of the family. In fact Ana's family would tell the court that they had forgiven Simon and did not want to see him die.

For the murder, rape and molestation of Alejandra, Simon would receive a sentence of life in prison, plus one hundred years. For the murders of his family, Simon would receive four life without parole sentences. The final sentence would come down on October 26, 2007. Not long after midnight on October 8, 2008 Simon Rios was found hanging in his prison cell. Forty minutes later he would be declared dead. He had left a note asking that his body be returned to his native Mexico. It is unclear whether his wish was granted.