Tucson Region

15 1/2 years for role in ranger's killing

The only man to be charged in the killing of park ranger Kris Eggle was sentenced Monday in U.S. District Court to 15 1/2 years in prison. Dionicio Ramírez López appeared before Judge Frank R. Zapata to be sentenced for aiding and abetting the transportation of a stolen vehicle, aiding and abetting assault with a dangerous weapon and firing a weapon during a violent crime. The courtroom was packed with uniformed National Park Service rangers, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and members of the Sonora State Judicial Police, whose commander came to recount the Aug. 9, 2002, chain of events that led to Eggle's killing at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. Some in the group cried quietly when Eggle's mother, Bonnie Eggle, addressed the judge. Federal investigators have been reluctant to discuss details of the case, but Ramírez López's pre-sentence report sheds some light on what happened. It shows that Ramírez López served as a lookout when Eggle's killer, Panfilo Murillo Aguila, and one or two other men carjacked a Scottsdale man who was driving in his GMC Blazer to Puerto Peñasco, Sonora, also known as Rocky Point. The carjackers went to a federal prosecutor's office in Sonoyta, Sonora, where a suspect arrested in a recent quadruple murder was being held. One of the men, known only as Chuy, wanted to know if his brother was one of the shooting victims. Officials, worried the men were there to try to free the suspect, summoned Sonoran state police. The police recognized the Blazer as the carjacked vehicle and spotted an AK-47 rifle inside. Murillo Aguila sped away toward the border, with state police following. The Blazer entered Organ Pipe Monument, and 10 minutes later, the Sonoran officers were fired upon. One officer was struck in the nose by rock fragments or shrapnel. Ramírez López said he only fired three shots into the ground, trying to scare the officers away. A U.S. Border Patrol helicopter dropped on top of Ramírez López, now on foot after the Blazer had been parked, its wake pushing the running man down, and he surrendered. Federal prosecutor Serra Tsethlikai said Ramírez López had dropped his gun to run away faster. Ammunition for a .38-caliber pistol was found on him; more ammunition was found in the Blazer. The pilot then directed Eggle to where Murillo Aguila was hiding. Eggle approached, his rifle held to his shoulder, and he appeared to be yelling orders to the crouching man. The pilot heard two shots, and Eggle fell to the ground. Mexican agents saw this and fired on Murillo Aguila. Ranger Jon Young tried unsuccessfully to stabilize Murillo Aguila for a flight to a hospital, but he was dead. Eggle, 28, had been fatally shot in the lower abdomen. Eggle's father, Robert, told Judge Zapata about his son before the sentencing. "He was a man of character who, when he heard the radio traffic … ran to the port of entry to volunteer," he said. "My beautiful, precious son was ambushed and murdered by a cold-blooded killer from Mexico," said Bonnie Eggle, crying but keeping her voice steady as she addressed the judge. "He was robbed from all of us."