MS-13 gang member on trial for six brutal murders in Virginia

Elmer Alas Candray, a 27-year-old from El Salvador, is on trial in Virginia for his alleged involvement in six brutal murders over the past five years. Prosecutors claim Candray, a high-ranking member of the notorious MS-13 gang, became one of Virginia’s most active killers. The trial is taking place in federal court in Alexandria, where Candray faces charges of murder, racketeering conspiracy, and firearms offences linked to the killings, which occurred in Fairfax County, Virginia, and Massachusetts.

Assistant US Attorney Megan Braun detailed the gruesome crimes to the court, supported by graphic images of the victims. One incident in 2019 involved the murder of 24-year-old Jose Guillen Mejia, whose body was found riddled with bullets in a wooded area near Dulles International Airport. This location had been frequented by people drinking, smoking, and selling drugs, which had attracted police attention, prompting the gang to assert control.

In 2020, Candray and three others allegedly lured 19-year-old waitress Iris Ponce Garcia into the same woods and shot her 16 times in the face, leaving her unrecognizable. Another victim, Rene Pineda Sanchez, was killed two years later for spending time in those woods; he was beaten so severely that he suffered catastrophic injuries, including a crushed skull.

Reston is now a gang hotbed, feds say, and an MS-13 leader in Virginia killed six in five years, by @rizzoTK https://t.co/lXiHRlXher

— Tom Jackman (@TomJackmanWP) October 9, 2024

In 2022, gang members killed 42-year-old Francisco Avelar Rivera, also known as “Papalito,” in Seneca Regional Park in Great Falls. Rivera, known for boasting about his rank within the gang, was beaten with a baseball bat, stabbed multiple times, and dismembered. His remains were buried and remained undiscovered for over a year.

Candray is also accused of participating in the 2021 assassination of rival gang member Santos Antonio Trejo Lemus and the 2018 murder of Kevin Abarca-Choto in New Bedford, Massachusetts, over unpaid debts.

Defence attorney Andrew Stewart argued that the evidence against Candray is insufficient, suggesting that the gruesome photos do not prove his client’s guilt. He also claimed that the testimonies from five other gang members, who have pleaded guilty and are set to testify against Candray, are motivated by self-interest.

Prosecutors discovered a kill list on Candray’s phone, which included Pineda Sanchez’s name, and seized a handgun linked to the shootings during a raid on his Manassas, Virginia home. Authorities also found two revolvers, two machetes, a baseball bat, knives, and ammunition.

MS-13, known for its extreme violence, has thousands of members in El Salvador, with operations directed by leaders in the country’s prisons. Despite numerous convictions for killings, drug deals, and human trafficking in northern Virginia, the gang’s presence in the region remains strong. Candray’s trial is expected to last several weeks.