Chairman, former office manager suspected of criminal activity at Tulare Cemetery-Valley Voice

2021-11-24 02:46:24 By : Mr. Chuck Wu

Charlie Ramos, the trustee of the Tulare Public Cemetery District, in a report submitted to the Tulare Police Department on April 12, accused the former office manager of the district, Leonor Castaneda ( Leonor Castaneda) committed a felony.

The police report stated that Castaneda did not act alone. According to Castaneda and other witnesses, TPCD Chairman Xavier Avila was also involved in suspected criminal activities.

The suspected felony exhumed the body in the cemetery without written consent. Destruction without written consent is a felony.

The investigation was transferred to the Tulare County District Attorney's Office on or about September 29, "and attracted the attention of DA investigator Jessica Machado."

In Ramos's preliminary report, he told Garcia, the Tulare police officer, that "the burial of the two bodies was wrong."

Ramos said that the TPCD board of directors discussed these errors at its March 25 meeting and decided to conduct an internal investigation of Castañida.

During the investigation, Ramos told police officers that they discovered that “Castaneda had produced fraudulent documents in order to bury Dolly Faria in another without the consent of family members or the court. The bones on the corpse."

The report stated that on March 8, 2021, “Castaneda falsified documents in order to confuse Justiniana Jacinto and Silvano without the family’s permission or court order. The body of Silvano Martinez was buried. Ramos said that Castaneda had allowed Terry Hughes [sic] to remove the ashes without permission from anyone or the court."

"He represents the board and hopes to arrest and prosecute Castaneda for violations," Ramos told Garcia police officer.

According to the preliminary report, Detective Cabello of the Tulare Police Department took over the investigation and interviewed Ramos on April 21.

In that interview, Caballo concluded that the crime of moving the body without written permission was likely to have occurred in the cemetery.

Ramos and other board members hold Castaneda solely responsible, but Cabello's ongoing investigation also involves Avila.

On May 21, Detective Cabello interviewed Castaneda, where she confessed to her crime but stated that she was not acting alone.

"She confirmed that both she and Xavier knew they needed written consent to move the body, but the body was moved anyway," the report said.

When Martinez's family called the office to tell her they didn't want to move the body of a loved one, Castaneda told detectives that she called Avila.

According to the police report, "He told her'Leonor, it will be done anyway.'"

Castaneda told detectives that Avila was in the cemetery during the double dismantling on the morning of March 8. At the cemetery, Martinez’s family asked to see a copy of the policy that gave the cemetery the right to move Silvano’s body without their permission.

The report stated that the family was "very upset and, according to her, almost assaulted her".

The police were asked to "maintain the peace" and talked about the exhumation with both Castaneda and Avila.

According to the report, Castaneda said, “The Martinez family continued to be upset, and then the chairman of the board of directors became upset and came forward to talk to the Martinez family and told them that the cemetery had made a mistake and that they were doing their best. To correct it."

Cabello asked Castaneda, “Did they (the Martinez family) agree to her in writing to move the body at any time? She said that they did not agree in writing or sign anything to move the body."

Witnesses confirm Castaneda's story

On the morning of March 8, Brian Viera, a long-time site administrator, assisted in the excavation of the cemetery. According to Viera, several members of the Martinez family were present and strongly opposed the excavation. They told Vieira that they were not allowed to move Silvano's body.

Vieira told Martinez's family that he would notify the office manager of their objections and that he would try to prevent digging.

Castaneda asked Vieira to report to the office shortly after.

According to the police report, Avila arrived at the cemetery. His response to their protest was to pressure his family to remove the body.

Castaneda told detectives that Avila told Martinez's family that if they don't want to dig out Silvano now, "that's fine", but it will eventually happen.

According to the investigation, the family believed that they had no choice but to give verbal permission.

The telecast video from Univision on Channel 21 also confirmed that Avila knew that his family did not allow them to disband Silvano Martinez.

Silvano Martinez's granddaughter Marisela Martinez told Univision in an interview at the cemetery that the cemetery called her on the afternoon of Friday, March 5, and informed them that her grandfather would be excavated on Monday morning. Her family members were told that they had no say in this decision and the body would be exhumed regardless of whether they obtained their permission.

Soon after Marisela was interviewed, Univision interviewed Avila, who expressed sympathy for her family and admitted that the cemetery had done something wrong.

Marisella Martinez told Univision: "Our family had to bury our grandfather twice, so we suffered double the grief." "No one deserves that."

Ramos and Avila maintain Avila's innocence

Ramos told detectives that Avila actually believed that the Martinez family had written permission to move Silvano's body.

"Avila just assumed that she had completed the proper paperwork, which is why he pressured her to keep moving the body," he said in the report.

Avila responded to Viera's written statement in a Valley Voice article on May 4, declaring "I actually stopped the destruction."

Ramos was not an eyewitness to the funeral, and it is speculated that his beliefs were based on an internal investigation conducted by the cemetery in Castaneda.

For most of the year, with the exception of the trustee Alberto Aguilar (Alberto Aguilar), the board of directors has been praising Castanida’s performance and arranging all suspected crimes committed in the cemetery. The responsibility was pushed to walk a tightrope between Castaneda's feet.

The trustee Charlie Ramos will not comment on the investigation.

Ramos said: "I will not make any comments to the media before the Tulare Cemetery, and Voice of Valley has no right to use my name in this article or any other publication."

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Very interesting news article, revealing information about the board members. Therefore, I can state frankly, "The board of directors did not conduct a thorough investigation of the double dismantling and/or double burial that were secretly and illegally carried out."

After the Tulare PD investigation conducted by the District Attorney's Office, the man said that he faces pending charges. Shut up crime.

"...Voice of the Valley has no right to use my name in this article or any other publication," Ramos said.

Sir, don't think they need it. Ha ha

Board members are public figures. The media does not need "permission" to report on the activities of government officials, regardless of their size.

Ironically, on the issue of not obtaining permission, Ramos believes that the media needs permission to report his actions.

Call, email or meet with our Tulare County Supervisor Pete VanderPoel and encourage him not to reappoint the cemetery trustees of these conspirators and remove Xavier Avila. In addition, many people in Tulare are encouraged to apply to the cemetery committee as soon as possible to bring integrity and trust back to the public entity that we served the public at the most vulnerable moment: the death of a family member or friend. We need to be accountable and fair for what is allowed to happen under the supervision of the trustee.

Oh Alex, I'm sure you will throw your hat in the ring. You are already imitating Alberto and Vicky. Please think for yourself. You will be the next person they try to drop the bus. Be very careful what you want.

PS Thank you for suggesting that I meet with Vanderpoel.

Well, finally someone besides Alberto discovered the wrong approach. Xavier always managed the cemetery without a full board vote, and got a rubber stamp afterwards. Pete Vander Poor was asked not to reappoint Xavier, and did so anyway, knowing that Al Aguilar and Vicki Gilson complained that he did not abide by the law.

You cannot find millions of missing people in your area, but you consider yourself an expert. Show me evidence of any misconduct in Tulare. There is nothing else but Alberto. Grasp the straw again. You people really need to live your own lives, stop talking nonsense.

Can't you report true and accurate news? Valley Voice has become a rag for writing unconfirmed fake news.

However, you continue to read "Voice of the Valley". Curious😏

I need to laugh often.

Isn't this "old news"? ? ? ? ? ? It must be painful to keep the names of those who have lost their loved ones in public over and over again. It must be painful for the media to keep printing their names. Yes, please contact anyone to remove ALBERTO AGUILAR MS Philpot. She seems to have forgotten the $$$$$$ embezzled at Visalia Cemetery while she was on duty. As for Guiterrez dobt even let me start. .lol All three of them are stirring the pot constantly, I can’t help but...

This is an ongoing investigation

Check Catherine carefully. As of 4 pm, Xavier has not been investigated by DA or TPD.

Found it interesting at its timing. Guess who returned to the city? 🤣🤣🤣🤣

Who is back to the city?

Who is back to the city? Your other self? Ha ha

It seems that there are many accusations and assumptions going on here without these facts. 1 This is an ongoing investigation by the Tulare Police Station. 2. The person under investigation is Castaneda. 3. There are two people who know this wrong behavior. Castaneda forged documents; it was a crime in itself. Avila used false information as an excuse to tell her family that she had no choice in this matter. 4 Once appointed by the Board of Supervisors, the only way people can be removed from the board of directors is the California Attorney General. Valley Voice only reports what it reads like we do. Yolonda Allen, you will quickly criticize and give pointers; why don't you throw your hat in the ring? As far as I know, there is no regional unity. Avila is a solo show, speaking on behalf of the board of directors. Hold him accountable for what happened. He wants to be recognized, whether he likes it or not, can give it to him. After all, this happened on his watch. People and your comments will only add fuel to the fire.

All lies and false accusations are nothing new. ValleyVoice's article is meant to give a false impression. I have not been under any investigation. Catherine said according to the report, but this is not the case. Catherine said "witnesses confirmed" but that was a lie. She wants readers to misunderstand that the police report found that others confirmed false allegations, but the fact is that only one person in the report was interviewed. Is Catherine making up? She did not say how appropriate this corroboration is. That's because it is not the case, she just hopes that people will be tricked into believing it. ValleyVoice collaborates with political activists to design political gimmicks. Alex Gutierrez, Alberto Aguilar, and Catherine Doe planned this little appeal, just like what happens in national politics. After a major news story was released, activists called for action. Look at their actions now, and the big story begins. They asked me to resign and Pete Vanderpoel replaced me, Charlie Ramos and Steve Presant with their political means. Notice that they have nothing to say about the cemetery itself? Because they don't care. The cemetery was a disaster 4 years ago. Today, it is full of greenery and the cemetery area is economically strong. When I say this, see how angry they are! It really suits them. People like Patrick and Barbara ignored the fact that after Vicki Gilson moved to Missouri, ValleyVoice defended her and she was no longer eligible to serve as a board member. ValleyVoice wrote articles and posted FB comments to defend her. However, BOS was not fooled and replaced it. In addition, ValleyVoice also protected Alberto Aguiar after he illegally publicly assessed cemetery employees. Alberto voted for a settlement agreement with the former manager. The voting result is 5-0. Why? Because of his behavior, the cemetery faces the risk of large-scale litigation. Why didn't ValleyVoice report on this? The tomb area discovered that Alberto had violated our settlement agreement and non-disclosure agreement, and sent his wrong behavior to Tulare Co DA with a 4-0 vote. Why is there an email from Catherine Doe with Alex Alberto and Vicky Gilson? Should journalists actively participate in political conspiracies?

Patrick No, I didn't tell the family that they had no choice. They did have a choice, and I told them the truth. There are two families. A family is the legal owner of the first tomb, and they have legal rights. Both tombs are now open. The second family asked if we could cover them up and leave. I told them yes, we can. I told them what they said, employees would do that. However, it would be wrong to not inform them that another family standing 100 feet away wants their loved ones to appear in the correct plot. They have legal rights, and if they go to court, the judge will most likely grant them the legal right to correct it. It is equivalent to holding a pink sheet of a car sold to someone else. The holder of the pink receipt is the legal owner. The first family is polite and firm, and I respect this. I think it is wrong not to inform the second family of this possibility. They could have come back a few months later and repeat this traumatic event. At this time I believe we have proper paperwork, but family members are under a lot of pressure, and I think they should have the opportunity to make a decision. We cannot go against the wishes of the second family. I have let the first family know that if the second family asks to stop and cover the tomb, we will do so. We will let the court resolve it. The first family understood this and expressed sympathy for the other family. The second family made a decision. Yes, it is not easy for them, but the other options are not easy. The second family told me that they don't want to experience pain anymore. I have only sympathy for the two families, I was there, and then called a special board meeting to deal with this issue, and we held a meeting the next day.

But let me ask you this. If this is an ongoing investigation, why should it be published in the newspaper. Shouldn't I be released after the investigation is over? If it is still under investigation, whether the release of this report may cause problems. You are a smart person! What do you think?

They have a police report, haha

Mr. Avila: If you feel you have been wronged, Gu Zhisheng is false information, can you prove it is wrong in court? You have the right to speak and bully anyone who responds to this article. You are the chairman of the board, and you are in the spotlight as always. You don't like it unless it is a compliment. You said that the financial situation of the Tulare Public Cemetery area is good, but you hedged the forensic audit of the district funds. Personally, I think this will shut up many critics. If Catherine Doe posts false information, you do have the right to sue Valley Voice, Times Delta, and The Tulare Register. But in this suite, you better have evidence of a lie. You can sit at the very front of the table on your throne and run the dog and pony show, because you are the king! But let's see what happens when you are on the witness stand and you are asked some blank questions. Let's see what you have to say when the video is playing, you sing and dance in the middle of the stage. What is the old saying that makes a sleeping dog lie? Ms. Castenada is the key, this happened on your watch, mine. President! I'm really nervous about what she is going to say.

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