Homicide suspect arrested in Plains

The suspect in a Texas shooting death 30 years ago apparently was living under an assumed name with his wife and family in a Plains trailer park, according to law enforcement officials.

David Gonzales, 63, was arrested Friday by U.S. marshals.

Gonzales has been charged with murder in the 1981 slaying of Bulfrano Ramirez near a Houston nightclub.

Marshals from a Houston-based task force contacted their counterparts in Montana Thursday after developing information that Gonzales may be in Plains.

Sanders County Sheriff Tom Rummel said he did not know how long the man authorities say is the fugitive had been living in the trailer park just outside of Plains or whether his wife knew he was wanted in the Texas slaying. But he said it was a shock to find a man wanted on a homicide warrant living in his county.

“You just kind of shake your head and say, ‘Good Lord, I never would have believed that,”’ Rummel said. “It’s an eye opener.”

Gonzales was described by neighbors as a quiet, unassuming family man. He was arrested at the Glacier Cross Roads trailer court in Plains.

Gonzales went by the name Antonio Martinez.

“They were like the perfect family,” said one neighbor who did not want to be identified, said. “The kids were some of the most polite kids I’ve ever seen. I was just shocked when we saw who it was. Total shock. I still think they must have the wrong guy.”

When Gonzales was arrested Friday afternoon, Cross Roads employee Jackie Colyer was on duty in the management office.

“I saw a police vehicle come up into the main drive and two other police rigs I’ve never seen before and they took somebody away,” Colyer said. “I didn’t know it was Antonio. I can’t believe it, though. He’s got a wife and little kids here. They’re precious.”

Colyer said Gonzales, under the name Antonio Martinez, paid his rent every month and that the family fit right into the community.

Gonzales allegedly shot another man Sept. 5, 1981, outside a lounge in Harris County, Texas, but fled before Texas authorities could arrest him.

Donna Hawkins, a spokeswoman for the Harris County District Attorney’s Office in Houston, said an investigator with the office’s fugitive apprehension section tracked down Gonzales through a review of public record databases after Gonzales was arrested in Idaho on an unrelated charge.

He was arrested without incident and made an initial court appearance on Monday, where bond was set at $100,000.

He appeared again on Tuesday and denied that he was Gonzales. Public defender Kirk Krutilla said he did not know what name his client was using at the hearing, as he was assigned the case at the last minute and his client spoke no English.

An extradition hearing has been set for Dec. 6.

Gonzales had been working in the logging industry at one point, but it was unclear whether he was employed at the time of this arrest, Rummel said. The sheriff said working as a logger is good cover for somebody looking to stay below the radar — resumes and job interviews usually aren’t part of the hiring process.

Rummel said this is not the first time a fugitive has sought cover in the remote, mountainous region that is his territory.

“It’s the remoteness. Sanders County is 115 miles long and 65 miles wide and we have six deputies,” Rummel said. “We do the best we can with what we have, but we’re out here basically by ourselves.”

The Associated Press contributed to this story.