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News from Indian Country
Pgge 9
Spilydy Tymoo
October 8, 2009
Calif, authorities say 1981 triple murder was hit job
LOS A N G ELES (AP) — California
authorities believe an unsolved 1981
triple m urder at the Cabazon Band o f
Mission Indians was a hit job orches
trated by a tribal casino director, finan
cial adviser and others to cover up ille
gal activity, and state officials are seek
ing to have the main suspect extradited
to California.
James “Jimmy” Hughes, the founder
o f a Miami-based Christian ministry,
was arrested last m onth at Miami In
ternational A irport on a fugitive war
ran t and was being held in Miami,
where he is fighting extradition to Cali
fornia.
Hughes, 52, faces three counts o f
murder in the execution-style shootings
o f C ab azo n trib a l o fficia l A lfred
Alvarez and his friends Patricia Castro
and R alph Boger and one cou n t o f
conspiracy to com m it a crime, accord
ing to a felony complaint for extradi
tion filed Thursday.
I t w a s n 't im m e d ia te ly c lea r if
H ughes had retained an attorney. His
ministry spokeswoman and his wife did
n o t reply to e-mails sent late Thursday.
T he complaint alleges that Hughes
conspired with non-Indian tribal finan
cial consultant Jo h n Philip Nichols,
Nichols' son Jo h n Paul Nichols, and
others in the days immediately before
the murders to “prevent Fred Alvarez
from exposing illegal activities o f John
P h ilip N ic h o ls , o c c u rrin g a t th e
Cabazon Indian Reservation.”
T h e reserv atio n is lo cated near
Indio, in a ru ral area o f Riverside
County about 130 miles southeast o f
Los Angeles. A message left at the tribal
administration offices was n ot im me
diately returned.
T he elder Nichols died in 2001 af
ter pleading no contest to two counts
o f m urder solicitation and serving 18
m onths in prison in another murder-
for-hire plot. A t the time, investigators
said they couldn't tie him to the un
solved 1981 slayings.
•
The-arrest w arrant for Hughes was
issued in A u gust by th e R iverside
County Sheriffs D epartm ent after a
joint investigation with the state attor
ney general's office, said Evan Westrup,
a spokesman for the state attorney gen
eral. The state is taking the lead in pros
ecuting th e case because Riverside
The bizarre killings were
dubbed the “octopus
murders” by detectives
because o f the complexity
and mystery surrounding
them.
County District Attorney Rod Pacheco
is a distant cousin o f Hughes.
W estru p d e c lin e d to say w h a t
prom pted authorities to issue the war
rant 28 years after the crime.
State officials are seeking to have
Hughes extradited to California by a
special governor's warrant, a process
th a t cou ld take a m o n th o r m ore,
Westrup said. Westrup said the investi
gation is ongoing and added that an
affidavit in support o f Hughes' arrest
warrant was sealed by a judge in Au
gust.
The bizarre killings were dubbed the
“octopus m urders” by detectives be
cause o f the complexity and mystery
Skokomish Lucky Dog Casino closing
SHELTON, Wash. (AP) - The gen
eral manager o f the Skokomish Tribe's
Lucky D og Casino north o f Shelton
says it will close for the w inter due to
the recession.
N ick Phillips said Wednesday was
the casino's last day. It planned to lay
o ff 120 employees, including 80 full
time workers.
H e says about 10 p ercent o f the
staff was American Indian; many work
ers co m m u ted from cities such as
Olympia and Belfair.
T he Olympian reports the casino
will honor its remaining financial obli
gations by redeeming valid slot tickets
and outstanding gaming chips through
Oct. 30;
Phillips says casino workers person
ally knew customers w ho have lost jobs
as well as senior citizens w ho have be
come m ore careful with discretionary
income.
H e says no date has been set for the
casino to reopen.
In 2006, the Lucky D og underwent
a $4 million expansion.
Hopi, Navajo say environmentalists
not welcome on their reservations
FLAG STAFF, Ariz. (AP) - T he
leader o f the country's largest Indian
reservation is throw ing his su p p o rt
behind the neighboring H op i Tribe,
w hose lawmakers declared environ
mental groups unwelcome on the res
ervation.
Navajo President Joe Shirley Jr. and
H opi lawmakers say environmentalists'
efforts could h u rt the tribes' struggling
economies by slowing or stopping coal
mining.
Shirley said Wednesday he will stand
in solidarity with the H opi Tribe.
H e also joined H opi lawmakers in
encouraging other tribes to re-evaluate
their relationships with envirdhmental-
ists.
Andy Bessler o f the Sierra Club says
the group réspects tribal sovereignty
and understands the need for tribes to
develop their economies. B ut unless
tribes can prevent carbon dioxide òr air
pollution from leaving the reservation,
he said environmental groups will con
tinue to address the issues that extend
beyond tribal boundaries.
surrounding them.
For years, numerous local and state
investigations turned up no suspects,
despite ram pant rumors, pressure from
the victims' families, and the apparent
suicide in 1991 o f a freelance reporter
who was probing the matter.
Alvarez was vice chairman o f the
Cabazon Tribal Council and security
c h ie f o f th e trib e 's p o k er casino.
H ughes was security director o f the
tribe's casino and bingo operations for
four years, until 1984.
T he elder Nichols was an outside
financial guru hired by the 24-member
tribe in 1978 and was considered a pio
neer in Indian gaming.
In a 1985 article about the elder
Nichols' arrest in the murder-for-hire
plot, the Los Angeles Times reported
that Alvarez told the Indio Daily News
shordy before his murder that he feared
fo r his life. T h e article also said
Alvarez's sister said her brother be
lieved the non-Indians running the ca
sino were skimming gambling profits.
Alvarez's sister, Linda Alvarez, told
the AP on Thursday that her brother
was afraid for his life because his mail
box had been shot o ut and his m otor
cycle had many unexplained break
downs and missing parts.
“You w ouldn't think he'd be afraid
o f anybody because he (was) a big guy,
but he was concerned,’’.she said.
In 1984, Hughes, then 27, told au
thorities he had been a payoff m an in
the Alvarez case.
H e said in the sum m er o f 1981, he
had been instructed in the presence o f
the elder Nichols to take $25,000 to the
m ountain community o f Idyllwild and
give it to a m an as a partial payment
for the Alvarez killings, according to
the 1985 Times article.
Hughes left California after renewed
investigations turned up nothing.
H e resurfaced in 1995, w hen he
founded the Jimmy Hughes Ministries,
w hich provides services in C entral
America to battered women, drug ad
dicts and others, according to its Web
site.
Calls to listings fo r the younger
Nichols in N ew York City and at an
Indio golf course on Cabazon p ro p
erty rang unanswered.
3 new highway markers to
commemorate Va. Indians
R IC H M O N D , Va., (AP) - The
D epartm ent o f Historic Resources
has approved three new highway
markers commemorating the history
o f Virginia Indians.
O ne sign will be installed along
the Chickahom iny River betw een
N ew K ent and Charles City coun
ties. It recounts the destruction o f
Chickahominy Indian towns by E n
glish colonists in 1645.
A nother marker to be installed
in Williamsburg notes the imprison
m ent o f about 40 Nazattico Indi
ans in 1704.
T he third marker will be installed
in King and Q ueen County. It re
calls the 1676 insurrection led by
colonist N athaniel Bacon, whose
sympathizers drove Pamunkey In
dians from their main tow n on the
Pamunkey River.
Standing Rock Sioux to appeal grant denial
FO R T YATES, N.D. (AP) - O ffi
cials o f the Standing Rock Sioux tribe
say they are appealing the denial o f a
$1.5 million suicide prevention grant
that would help keep five workers on
the job in communities along the N orth
D akota-South D akota border.
T he g rant from the federal Sub
stance Abuse and Mental H ealth Ser
vices A d m in istration had been ap
proved for the tribe for the past three
years.
Standing Rock Chairman Ron His
H orse Is T hunder said the tribe's ap
plication this year was n o t ranked high
enough to continue the money. H e says
he will challenge the decision.
His H orse Is T hunder said at least
20 clients have been served w ith the
grant through transportation programs
that get them to'counseling or other
medical help. T he m oney also helps
grieving families o f suicide victims.
Officials o f the grant program said
they could n o t com m ent on specific
requests.
Native corporations defend contracts
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A N C H O R A G E, Alaska (AP) -
Five Alaska N ative corporations
have launched a public relations
cam paign to fight congressional
attacks on governm ent contracting.
The Anchorage Daily News says
the corporations organized after
Sen. Claire McCaskill o f Missouri
raised co n cern s .a b o u t possible
waste, fraud and abuse in the Small
Business Administration's program
for minority-owned, socially disad
vantaged companies.
W ith o u t com petitive bidding,
N ative com panies landed nearly
$24 billion in w ork over the past
eight years. Contracts include cater
ing services and security guards at
military bases and database m an
agement for large federal agencies.
T h e N ative co rp o ratio n s say
their revenue grow th is a sign that
the program is working.
The PR campaign was started by
A fognak N ative Corp., C henega
C o rp ., C h u g ach A laska C o rp .,
Koniag Inc. and N A N A Regional
Corp. T he coalition lists about 40
m em bers, including many Native
corporation or tribal-owned com
panies th at specialize in govern
m ent contracting.
T h e cam paign is p u b lish in g
video clips on the In te rn e t and
sending Alaska Native executives to
public events around the state.
The coalition contends success
in contracting has allowed com pa
nies to boost their shareholder divi
dends, create new scholarships and
provide jobs for thousands o f Alas
kans.
T he contracting privileges were
inserted by form er Alaska Sen. Ted
Stevens, and they are also available
to qualified Lower 48 tribes and
Native Hawaiian companies, but
n o t any other minority groups.
Fifteen Native corporations em
ploy 12,000 Alaskans and another
40,000 p eo p le w orldw ide, said
Clyde G ooden, a form er N A N A
subsidiary executive, w ho spoke at
Monday's Anchorage Cham ber o f
Comm erce luncheon.
T he coalition has hired MSI
C om m unications, an A nchorage
public relations firm , to run the
“Native 8(a) Works” campaign.
McCaskill is still working on the
Native contracting issue.
“Reform in this area is going to
happen. It's n o t a m atter o f if, but
a m atter o f when,” press secretary
Maria Speiser said.