Anti-immigration activist indicted in double murder

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) - Three people, including a Washington state woman, have been indicted in the rural southern Arizona murders of a 9-year-old girl and her father and her mother's wounding during a home invasion.

A Pima County grand jury returned the indictment late Monday against Shawna Forde of Everett, Wash., Jason Bush of Meadview, Ariz., and Albert Robert Gaxiola of Arivaca, Ariz., charged in the killing of Brisenia Flores and her father Raul Flores and the wounding of Gina Marie Gonzales on May 30 in Arivaca.

Pima County Deputy Attorney Rick Unklesbay said Tuesday each defendant is charged with two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of aggravated assault and one count of attempted first-degree murder, first-degree burglary, armed robbery and aggravated robbery.

The three will be arraigned next week.

The trio is alleged to have dressed as law enforcement officers and forced their way into a home about 10 miles north of the Mexican border in rural Arivaca. Their motive was financial, Sheriff Clarence Dupnik of Pima County said last week.

"The husband who was murdered has a history of being involved in narcotics and there was an anticipation that there would be a considerable amount of cash at this location as well as the possibility of drugs," Dupnik said.

A sheriff in Arizona has said the trio wanted to steal money to fund operations of Forde's Minutemen American Defense.

The Minutemen American Defense Web site, now taken down, had said Forde, who has been living recently in Arizona, is the group's leader and Bush goes by the nickname "Gunny" and is its operations director. She was once associated with the better known and larger Minuteman Civil Defense Corps.

Bush has also been charged with second-degree murder in Chelan County in the stabbing death of Hector Lopez Partida, a homeless man.

An informant told Wenatchee police that Bush bragged about killing "a Mexican" behind a store and that Bush had ties to white supremacist groups, according to court documents. Prosecutors say he was linked to the death through DNA evidence.

Police described Partida as a homeless man sleeping under a blanket behind a store in the early morning hours of July 24, 1997. After being stabbed seven times, he managed to walk to a nearby parking lot, then collapsed, court documents said.

Arriving officers asked Partida who had hurt him. He muttered the words: "Gavachos (white guys)." He died minutes later.

A bloodstained shirt was found nearby. In 2005, DNA extracted from the shirt matched Bush's, who had a lengthy criminal record in Washington and had served time in prison here.

The Minutemen American Defense Web site has been replaced by a statement attributed to officers of Forde's group. The message disassociates the group from Forde and Bush.

"MAD is not responsible for the independent actions or the private agenda by Shawna Forde and her cohorts that is not a part of MAD's normal operating procedures," the message read. "Shawna acted totally on her own person agenda and has caused a lot of pain embarrassment and humiliation to the total Minutemen movement and fellow members of MAD."