What we know now about the Akron, Copley triple homicide
Police say a 58-year-old Copley resident formerly convicted of drug trafficking killed three Youngstown men who were found bound, gagged and shot in the head Friday. Two of the men were found dead in Akron, while the third was found in Copley at around the same time. A fourth victim is said to have escaped.
Elias Gudino was arraigned on one count of aggravated murder and one count of attempted aggravated murder for the discovery of the man found killed in Copley Township.
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Akron and Copley police detectives are working together to determine a motive for the killings. Copley Police Chief Michael Mier said police believe Gudino is responsible for all three deaths, along with an attack on a fourth victim, who escaped.
"We know that they are related. We know the Akron bodies and the Copley body are related," he said Monday. "Our detectives and Akron detectives are working together to see if we can gain some more insight into what took place and why."
How were the bodies found in Akron and Copley?
Police said a motorist called Akron police around 8:30 a.m. to report that two men's bodies were visible off Cordova Avenue near Redbrush Road in West Akron. The bodies were found lying in a small wooded area near the Interstate 77 sound barrier.
Copley police responded to a call about 20 minutes later that another body had been found less than 2 miles away off Wright Road.
A fourth victim had been "bound, taped and shot in the head, but survived the shooting," according to an affidavit filed in Barberton Municipal Court.
Who are the victims in Akron and Copley deaths?
The three victims, all from Youngstown, were identified Monday by the Summit County Medical Examiner's Office. The two men found in Akron were Inmer Reyes, 25, and Victor Varela-Rodriguez, 31.
The victim found in Copley was identified as 35-year-old Domingo Castillo-Reyes.
The fourth victim has not been identified as of Monday.
"He's fine, and that's all we're saying about him," Mier said Monday about the victim's condition.
A statement released Saturday said investigators believed they had been kidnapped from "outside this area and brought to Summit County."
Who is Elias Gudino?
Gudino was sentenced to 12½ years in prison in 2010 after federal officials broke up a drug ring they said Gudino led from Akron.
In 2009, when Gudino lived in Akron, federal agents had been investigating what they referred to as the "Elias Gudino Drug Trafficking Organization," court records said.
He was arrested and sent to prison in 2010 and released in 2017.
Public records show that Gudino at one time owned La Michoacana Taqueria and grocery in the 1400 block of Copley Road in West Akron.
Court records show he was born in Mexico and came to the U.S. in the 1980s and became an American citizen.
Are the killings related to Elias Gudino's prior drug trafficking conviction?
Police aren't saying whether there is a connection between the homicides and Gudino's prior drug conviction.
In that case, dating to 2009, multiple cooperating witnesses provided evidence showing Gudino moved kilograms of cocaine to sellers in the Akron area in transactions worth many tens of thousands of dollars.
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Investigators said they had information that Gudino had been trafficking drugs since the 1990s and now had an operation that was based in southern Mexico, but reached across the U.S. in Ohio, Colorado, Oklahoma and other states, court records said.
Is Elias Gudino in jail?
Gudino is being held without bond in the Summit County Jail.
He was ordered to be held without bond by Barberton Municipal Court Judge Todd McKenney during a court appearance Wednesday. The case was continued for direct indictment, according to court records.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: 3 bodies found in Akron: What we know about Akron, Copley homicides
