TEXAS AIMS HIGH
WEDNESDAYAUGUST 3, 2016
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DOUBLE HOMICIDE AT LAKESIDE SUBDIVISION
TEXAS
Person of interest sought Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman / AP
University of Texas at Austin anthropology professor Pauline Strong posts a sign prohibiting guns at her office on the first day of the new campus-carry law Monday, Aug. 1.
Campus carry already tested
Investigation reports shed light in case of young couple’s death in Laredo By César G. Rodriguez TH E ZAPATA T IME S
LAREDO — After a young couple were found dead June 26 in an empty lot in a north Laredo neighborhood — their bodies naked and heads wrapped in plastic bags — police searched a nearby home owned by a popular Tejano artist and his wife. When police arrived at the residence on Shark Bay Road, located about 1.5 miles from the crime scene in the upscale Lakeside Subdivision, they said they encountered two male workers replacing carpet in the home. After an initial sweep to ensure no additional victims or suspects were in the residence, a detective spotted possible bloodstains on a carpet upstairs, according to an affidavit filed by the Laredo Police Department.
LPD said in the court record that the home is owned by Teresa Martinez. Her son, Francisco “Frankie” Villarreal, a convicted felon, is a potential person of interest in the slaying of the couple. The couple were identified as George O. Rodriguez, 20, and Alondra Arroyo Gutierrez, 19, who were common-law husband and wife. Webb County appraisal district records state that Martinez’s husband, Rene O. Martinez, a founding member of popular Tejano group Intocable, also owns the home. Laredo Morning Times did not receive a response to several emails sent to the band’s management. LPD said Rodriguez was last seen June 13 with Villarreal, who was released from prison in February after serving a seven-year
Francisco Villarreal
Courtesy Courtesy
George O. Rodriguez and Alondra Arroyo Rodriguez were last seen by their parents June 13. Their bodies were discovered June 26 in an empty lot in Lakeside.
Teresa and Rene Martinez are pictured in this photo posted on Facebook in February 2014. The home that they own on Shark Bay Road was searched by police after two bodies were found in an empty lot in Lakeside.
Homicide continues on A11
Cesar G. Rodriguez / Laredo Morning Times
Laredo police searched a home in the 5100 block of Shark Bay Road after the bodies of a husband and wife were discovered June 26 in an empty lot in the Lakeside subdivision.
Professors sue to overturn law By Jim Vertuno ASSOCIATED PRE SS
AUSTIN, Texas — Texas’ new law allowing concealed handguns in college classrooms, buildings and dorms has barely started and already faces a legal challenge seeking to block it before students return for the fall semester. Three professors at the University of Texas sued July 6 to overturn the law, claiming it is unconstitutional and is forcing colleges to impose “dangerously-experimental gun policies.” The 50,000-student Austin campus has been a flashpoint of opposition to the law among faculty and students. The law took effect Monday, the 50th anniversary of Charles Whitman’s sniper attack from the top of the University of Texas campus clock tower, a shooting spree that eventually claimed 17 lives and has come to be accepted as the nation’s first mass shooting. U.S. District Judge Lee Yeakel had previously scheduled a preliminary injunction hearing for Thursday in Austin. Classes at the University of Texas start Aug. 24. Texas has allowed licensed concealed handguns in public since 1995 but had previously made college buildings off limits. The new law makes Texas one of eight states with laws that allow weapons on campus Guns continues on A11
WASHINGTON, D.C.
Donald Trump is ‘unfit’ to be president, Obama says, challenging Republicans to end support By Julie Pace A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS
WASHINGTON — In a searing denouncement, President Barack Obama castigated Donald Trump as “unfit” and “woefully unprepared” to serve in the White House. He challenged Republicans to withdraw their sup-
port for their party’s nominee, declaring “There has to come a point at which you say ‘enough.”’ While Obama has long been critical of Trump, his blistering condemnation Tuesday was a notable escalation of his involvement in the presidential race. Obama
questioned whether Trump would “observe basic decency” as president, argued he lacks elementary knowledge about domestic and international affairs and condemned his disparagement of an American Muslim couple whose son was killed while serving the U.S. Army in
Iraq. A chorus of Republicans has disavowed Trump’s criticism of Khizr and Ghazala Khan and the Republican nominee’s calls to temporarily ban Muslims from coming to the U.S. But Obama argued that isn’t enough. “If you are repeatedly
having to say, in very strong terms, that what he has said is unacceptable, why are you still endorsing him?” Obama asked during a White House news conference. “What does this say about your party that this is your standardbearer?” No prominent Republican lawmaker
responded to Obama’s challenge. Instead, it was Trump stunningly withholding his support from top GOP lawmakers, including House Speaker Paul Ryan. In an affront to his party’s top elected official, Trump told The Washington Post he Obama continues on A11