Aug 29, 2008

Murder suspects used text messaging

By Banks Albach / Daily News Staff Writer

The suspects accused of murdering and conspiring to murder siblings Omar Aquino, 24, and Maria Teresa Sanchez-Aquino, 27, lured the brother to the movies earlier that day and used text messages as a tool to coordinate a plot to follow him home, where they tied him and his sister up, robbed them and shot them to death, Santa Clara County prosecutors believe.

According to court documents, Fame Ashley Thomas, 15, and her brother, Kenneth Ivory Thomas, 20, arranged for Fame to go to the movies with Aquino on June 27. After the movie, in the early hours of June 28, Fame allegedly sent a text message to her 17-year-old sister Faith and to her brother, stating that Aquino was in his truck and that they were finally going to "get" him. Faith then arranged to meet her younger sister in the theater bathroom and told her later, through a text message, to delete all of her text messages.

Kenneth had arranged for someone to follow Aquino and Fame to the victim's Mountain View home on the 1900 block of Plymouth Street. Kenneth then sent Fame a text message asking for Aquino's address and later sent her one stating he was "on it." Fame then replied with a signal to start the robbery, according to court documents.

Shortly after, Kenneth, Michael David Adams, 20, and Nicory Marquis Spann, 18, stormed the house and Kenneth and Fame tied up the siblings. Fame and a sixth suspect, Victoria Frances Thompson, then searched the house for valuables, according to the documents.

Prosecutors also believe that Fame, Spann and Thompson threatened the brother and sister with a gun and that Spann later shot them to death. The group fled with an Apple iPhone and other electronic equipment. All of the suspects fled in one vehicle except for Adams, who left the scene with getaway driver Kim Thien Pham.

The initial 911 call on the day of the murders came at 3:54 a.m. from a wireless caller, who police suspect was Sanchez-Aquino because of the number. The call, however, went to a California Highway Patrol dispatcher in Vallejo because Aquino's home is near Highway 101.

The CHP dispatcher attempted to transfer the call to Mountain View, but the caller was cut off seconds later. The dispatcher was only able to record that a break-in had occurred on "Clemon" in Mountain View, a street that doesn't exist. An hour later, Mountain View police received reports of shots fired, went to the home and found the victims.



E-mail Banks Albach at balbach@dailynewsgroup.com.