MS-13 leader on trial for gruesome murders in Virginia, including young waitress who was shot 16 times
An MS-13 leader is on trial in Virginia for his role in a half-dozen gruesome murders over the last five years, including one in which he and his gang shot a young waitress in the face so many times that her corpse was unrecognizable.Federal prosecutors say Elmer Alas Candray, a 27-year-old native of El Salvador, became one of the busiest killers in Virginia as he rose through the ranks of the savage gang, which is known for its horrific violence, according to the Washington Post.But now, he’s facing the music in federal court in Alexandria, where he’s accused of murder, racketeering conspiracy and firearms charges stemming from the six killings, which left five corpses in ritzy Fairfax County, Virginia, and another in Massachusetts, the outlet said.Prosecutors say the murder case — which would imprison Alas Candray for life if he’s convicted — is the biggest they’ve taken to trial in several years.Ironically, it could be his own people that do him in.Of the eight other gang members indicted last year for the slayings, seven pleaded guilty — and five plan to testify against Alas Candray, the one person who allegedly participated in all six killings between 2018 and 2022, the outlet said.In court, Assistant US Attorney Megan Braun listed the case details while photos of the victims’ brutalized bodies flashed across the TV screens.In one case, Alas Candray’s crew got angry that people were drinking, smoking and selling drugs in a small patch of woods behind a shopping center about 10 minutes east of Dulles International Airport, which they considered their turf.The nefarious activity was bringing cops around — so one night in 2019, they sent a message by killing the first person they saw in those woods: 24-year-old Jose Guillen Mejia.The gangbangers left his bullet-riddled body laying amid a cluster of beer bottles and bullet casings, one detective testified.The following year, Alas Candray and three others lured Iris Ponce Garcia, a 19-year-old wa...