A man pleaded guilty to the 2020 homicides of five people in the San Luis Valley on Monday, according to court records.
Adre “Psycho” Baroz, 29, pleaded guilty to a total of 13 charges: five counts of first-degree murder, five counts of tampering with a deceased human body, one count of first-degree assault with a deadly weapon, one count of second-degree assault with a deadly weapon and one count of second-degree kidnapping.
Prosecutors said Baroz committed the murders over a two-month period between Aug. 25 and Nov. 13, 2020, the Denver Gazette reported.
Korina Arroyo, 31, of Monte Vista; Selena Esquibel, 19, of Alamosa; Xavier Zeven Garcia, 24, of Saguache; Myron Martinez, 31, of Del Norte and Shayla Hammel, 34, of Alamosa, were killed and their bodies dumped near the Colorado-New Mexico border.
Baroz was accused of burning their bodies in a pit in Los Sauses, a community south of Alamosa.
He was arrested in Gallup, New Mexico, on Nov. 19, 2020, in connection with the discovery of three of the bodies, which were found on two properties in Conejos County earlier that month.
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Baroz already had a lengthy criminal record in Colorado, including convictions for assault, escape and theft. At the time of his arrest, he had four criminal cases open against him for charges of obstructing government operations, assault, possession of a weapon by a felon and multiple drug charges.
Co-defendants Julius Baroz, 33, and Francisco Ramirez, 41, also appeared in front of 12th Judicial District Judge Michael Gonzales on Monday and pleaded guilty to charges related to the murders. Julius pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit murder, and Ramirez pleaded guilty to three counts of tampering with a human body.
All three men will be sentenced on May 3, according to court documents.
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