Soon after that traffic stop, federal agents spoke with Murillo and Hernandez.
Prosecutors said Madrigal-Birrueta later spoke with Murillo and Hernandez, who said “They wanted to quit the drug business and cooperate with the investigation,” angering Madrigal-Birrueta.
The victims’ bodies were not found until more than a year after the killings, buried in unmarked graves near the Yakima ranch.
Also charged in the case was Ricardo Orizaba-Zendejas, whom prosecutors say worked as Madrigal-Birrueta’s “trusted lieutenant,” drug dealer and debt collector.
Orizaba-Zendejas was convicted by a federal jury of drug and firearm offenses connected to the drug trafficking organization and was sentenced earlier this year to 20 years in prison.