5 Arrested In Desert Massacre That Killed 6: Police

ADELANTO, CA — Five men were arrested Sunday in connection with a massacre last week in the Mojave Desert, where a dispute over marijuana left six dead, according to police.

Authorities announced the arrests Monday evening, almost a week after the bodies were found, in a news release and at a press conference live-streamed by ABC7 on Facebook.

“This is an area known for illicit marijuana,” San Bernardino County Sheriff Shannon Dicus told reporters. “For all intents and purposes, it looks like illicit marijuana was the driving force behind these murders and that’s all we really know at this point.”

The five men who were arrested and are being held without bail on suspicion of murder were identified by Sgt. Michael Warrick as:

• Jose Gregorio Hernandez-Sarabia, 34, of Adelanto;
• Jose Nicolas Hernandez-Sarabia, 33, of Adelanto;
• Toniel Baez-Duarte, 34, of Apple Valley;
• Mateo Baez-Duarte, 24, of Apple Valley;
• Jose Manuel Burgos Parra, 26, of Adelanto.

Warrick also identified three of the victims. They are:

• Baldemar Mondragon-Albarran, 34, of Adelanto;
• Franklin Noel Bonilla, 22, of Hesperia;
• Kevin Dariel Bonilla, 25, of Hesperia.

Warrick said the other victims include a 45-year-old man whose identification is pending notification of next of kin and two other men who have yet to be identified. Authorities are working with the Honduran consulate to determine the citizenship status of some of the victims, according to Dicus.

Franklin Noel Bonilla called 911 shortly after 8 p.m. Tuesday and said he had been shot but couldn't give his location, according to police, who said authorities were able to determine the call was placed around Lessing Avenue and Shadow Mountain Road in an unincorporated and remote area of Adelanto.

Responding law enforcement found five bodies and, shortly afterward, discovered a sixth, which was Franklin Noel Bonilla, according to police. All six victims had been shot and four were partially burned, police said. Authorities also found two vehicles, one of which had been shot repeatedly, at the scene, according to Warrick.

The victims had arranged to meet for a marijuana transaction, according to police, and the five men who were later arrested arrived at the location and shot them.

Search warrants were served Sunday in Apple Valley, Adelanto and Pinon Hills; eight firearms were recovered; and additional evidence was found, police said, adding the five men were arrested on a compound.

Marijuana-related body dumps are not unprecedented in San Bernardino County, according to Dicus.

“It isn’t an anomaly," he said. "The anomaly here is the amount of people that were murdered, of course. And this is a problem. And this is a problem that’s not really being talked about.”

Dicus told reporters that, in the last year, marijuana enforcement teams served 411 search warrants for illegal marijuana grows, and recovered 655,000 marijuana plants and 74,000 pounds of processed marijuana. Authorities served 11 search warrants in the immediate area of the killings, he said.

Anyone with information about this case is asked to contact Detective Michelle Del Rio at 909-890-4904. To remain anonymous, contact We-Tip at 800-782-7463 or www.wetip.com.