HI HI - Ruben Gallegos, 19, Pearl Harbor, 1 May 1992 *J. Torres guilty*

http://www.thehawaiichannel.com/news/5497567/detail.html

HONOLULU -- The attorney general's office has charged a man with murder in the case of a man who disappeared 13 years ago.Reuben Gallegos disappeared along with $80,000 from the Navy Exchange. His body was never found. Gallegos was 19 years old at the time.
[...]
Gallegos was a cashier at the Pearl Harbor Navy Exchange. On May 1, 1992, $80,000 was taken.
Jenaro Torres, a base security guard, was arrested. In his car, officials found stolen money, Gallegos' ID and a gun with spent rounds. Despite several efforts, Gallegos' body was never found.

I can't even find a picture of Reuben, so I can't profile him on the Charley Project. I wish I could. He deserves to be remembered, and this is the first time I've even heard of the guy.

This is an interesting story. They had enough evidence back then to convict him of robbery, but not of kidnapping? I understand that it difficult to convict someone of murder when you don't have a body, but why couldn't they get him on kidnapping? That likely would have gotten him a longer sentence than robbery. Wonder what the evidence is is it isn't the his body or an eyewitness? DNA or a forgotten fingerprint? A murder weapon?
I hope they catch this guy soon.

mysteriew said:

This is an interesting story.I hope they catch this guy soon.

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I hope they do to...

meggilyweggily said:

. . .I can't even find a picture of Reuben, so I can't profile him on the Charley Project. I wish I could. He deserves to be remembered, and this is the first time I've even heard of the guy.

Click to expand...

Maybe you can find relatives to get a pic. There is only one name exactly like his listed in the yahoo people search so maybe they are related.

docwho3 said:

Maybe you can find relatives to get a pic. There is only one name exactly like his listed in the yahoo people search so maybe they are related.

Click to expand...

I shouldn't want to make an unsolicited contact to a relative, though. A lot of them have a very hard time talking about the disappearance and just want to be left alone.

Maybe there'll be more news about the upcoming trial, with that, a picture of Reuben.

The defense team in a 15-year-old murder case hopes to prove in court that the murder victim is not dead, but only missing.

Not only is he missing, but 19-year-old Ruben Gallegos also was a willing accomplice in the 1992 robbery that caused his disappearance, Deputy Public Defender Ed Harada argued during opening arguments.

Jenaro Torres, 58, faces a second-degree murder charge for the May 1, 1992, disappearance of Gallegos. The body was never found, but Torres was later found with Gallegos' belongings and $78,000. The jury trial began yesterday morning in Circuit Court.

http://starbulletin.com/2007/03/14/news/story08.html

Does anyone know how this trial went?

He was convicted. http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/g/gallegos_ruben.html

Ruben Gallegos

Endangered Missing

Missing From: Pearl Harbor, Hawaii

Missing Since: May 1, 1992

Age: 19 -- Hair Color: Dark Brown / Black -- Eye Color: Brown


Ruben was last seen at the Pearl Harbor Navy Exchange in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on May 1, 1992. At 8:45 am, Ruben received $80,000 for the purpose of cashing Navy payroll checks. Two armed military escorts went with him to the Navy Exchange Administration Building at Pearl Harbor, where Gallegos locked himself inside the cashier's cage.

Witnesses said that some time after that, Jenaro Torres, a former Pearl Harbor police officer, who was armed with a handgun, was seen escorting Ruben from the building. They had a brown satchel. Military police were notified and arrested Jenaro Torres when he tried to enter Pearl Harbor about 3:00 pm that day.

Investigators found a brown satchel in the trunk of Torres' car containing all but $1,998 of the stolen money. They also found a Smith & Wesson handgun with one live round and three spent cartridges that had recently been fired, an electric shocking device, a portable police scanner and Gallegos' wallet and hairbrush.

Torres was initially charged in 1992 with kidnapping, but pleaded no contest to reduced charges of theft and carrying a firearm without a license. He was sentenced to two years in federal prison and three years' probation. In December 2005, an Oahu grand jury indicted Torres for the 1992 murder of Ruben, whose body was never found. Jenaro Torres was convicted of killing Ruben Gallegos in 2007.


Doe Network

Charley Project

Twenty years ago...

Thanks to WS member Kat for the heads up on this news in Ruben's case.


Sentence finally reached in 1992 murder of Navy Exchange cashier

19-year-old Ruben Gallegos was last seen on May 1, 1992 leaving his cashier cage at the Pearl Harbor Navy Exchange carrying a money bag with $80,000.

[snip]

The AG's office says the victim's family supported the plea agreement and continues to be hopeful that Torres might someday disclose the location of Ruben's remains so that he can be given an appropriate burial in Texas.

More: http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/story/...ached-in-1992-murder-of-navy-exchange-cashier

What a sick guy that torres, although he has already been sentenced, hopefully he has the dignity to reveal the site where he disposed of the gallegos body.
rest in peace ruben