Caretaker dies after admitting role in student murders

A confessed perpetrator and key witness in a high-profile multiple homicide died in Guadalajara this weekend, barely a week after turning himself in to authorities.

Gerardo Flores Gomez, 51, was caretaker of the Federation of Guadalajara Students (FEG) headquarters, where the bodies of four students and one parent were discovered last December. Better known as “El Tatuado,” for his many tattoos, Flores died in custody at the Fray Antonio Alcalde Civic Hospital on Saturday morning after suffering a septic shock, the result of multiple health problems.

The Jalisco Institute of Forensic Sciences (IJCF) revealed that Flores was suffering from pneumonia, hemorrhagic gastritis and liver cirrhosis.

“The body bore no signs of violence or beatings,” said IJCF coordinator Eduardo Fonseca Mota at a press conference. He added that an examination of Flores’ body showed the lungs and heart were severely swollen, while the liver was larger and heavier than is normal, with multiple scars suggesting chronic liver failure.

The State Attorney General’s Office (PGJEJ) suggested that Flores’ illnesses were what drove him to turn himself in. He “had a liver problem and requested drugs – that’s what made him come to us,” said Jalisco Attorney General Tomas Coronado Olmos, who added “we gave him other medications he required.”

Flores gave himself up to the PGJEJ on February 7 and confessed to the murder of two teenage students. He also accused FEG President David Castorena Peña of shooting two of the victims in his office.

His account supports the testimony of four teenagers who also incriminated Castorena in two of the murders last month, after admitting they were forced to dig the victims’ graves. Authorities are still searching for Castorena, who has gone into hiding since the incident.

He stands accused of shooting a father and son following a dispute over fees for the father’s churros stand outside the school grounds at La Normal. Flores admitted stabbing to death two teenagers who accompanied the pair to the FEG headquarter, and then shooting one of them in the head. He also admitted his son killed a fifth victim.

Born in Guadalajara, Flores lived in the United States before returning to work for the FEG for 24 years. He once served four and a half years in jail for vehicular theft and attempted murder.

Facing multiple homicide charges, Flores was being held at the Puente Grande prison outside Guadalajara until he was admitted to hospital last week.