LIVINGSTON TIMELINE AT ODDS WITH D.A.'S CLAIMS; CORTEZ, CHALLENGING OMAR LUCIO SAYS HE LOCATED AMIT IN INDIA

(Ed.'s Note: The public relations frenzy by the Cameron County District Attorney's Office to milk publicity from the arrest and extradition of convicted murderer Amit Livingston now that Luis V. Saenz has announced for reelection has been noted by more than one observer. Saenz and his PIO have sought to make it appear like Saenz, whose jurisdiction extends to the county line, was the moving force behind the capture of Livingston across the pond in India by that country's police force and the U.S. Dept. of State. Below is a time line of Livingston's failure to show up to serve his sentence and Saenz's belated entry into the case.)      

 

September, 2005

 



Edinburg: Relatives of Hermila Garcia Hernandez, and Edinburg school teacher, report her missing to police.

October 4, 2005

South Padre Island:  Four days later, her body was found in a sand dune in a remote part of South Padre Island.

February 13, 2007

Brownsville: Amit Livingston, an American Medical billing specialist, was arrested and later admitted to having killed her because he believed she was about to end their brief relationship. He pleaded guilty to the crime and was sentenced in Cameron County, Texas, to a 23-year prison term.
What should have been the end of that case turned out to be the beginning of a seven-year manhunt for an international fugitive. At sentencing, Livingston was granted 60 days to get his affairs in order. However, the convicted murderer walked out of the district court and failed to return.

 

April 14, 2007

Brownsville: Livingston was supposed to appear before the Cameron County Sheriff’s office on April 14, 2007, to serve the jail term but didn’t do so. Later, the US police learnt that he had fled to India carrying fictitious documents. A red corner notice was issued for him the next year through the INTERPOL. (This is the same kind of notice that has been sent out in the case of El Chapo Guzman, the convicted narco trafficker who escaped from maximum security prison in Central Mexico).

 

June 2007

Washington, D.C.: Even though Livingston was listed by Interpol as a person wanted in the United States, and his mugshot was featured on America’s Most Wanted in June 2007, the case went cold. It was not until 2008 when the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS) requested assistance in the case from the Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) that it gained traction. (Ed.'s Note: Saenz did not come into office until January 1, 2013, four years after the Marshal's Office had located the fugitive and was already on Livingston's trail.)

January 2008

New Delhi, India: Starting in 2008, ARSO-Is and the Criminal Fraud Investigator (CFI), a locally hired employee at U.S. Embassy New Delhi, repeatedly met with local government authorities. In spite of targeted record checks, local officials were not able to find substantive information, hence no action was taken. Over the next several years, local police officers located a couple of Livingston’s relatives, but investigations yielded no credible leads. The search for the murderer finally took a positive turn in 2013 when the ARSO-I and CFI received a credible tip (from a cousin who wanted the reward money.)

2008-2013

Hyderabad, India: After extensive analysis, and based on Livingston’s employment history, the CFI was able to locate his current place of employment. When the CFI showed the manager of this transcription service a photo of Livingston, he immediately recognized him as a contract employee who went by a different name – Sanjay Kumar.
Local police linked the phone to a three-story apartment in Hyderabad on May 6, 2014. An hour later, the inspector arrived at Livingston’s residence. He knocked on the door. Livingston opened it and calmly identified himself as Sanjay Kumar. But when the inspector asked for Livingston, he became violent. It took both the inspector and his partner to subdue and arrest him.
Earlier that year, on January 1, 2013, Luis Saenz is sworn in as Cameron County District Attorney. He brought in former DEA agents George Delaunay and Victor Cortez as his chief investigators.

 

September 2014

Washington, D.C.: Saenz travels to Washington D.C., ostensibly to "move" the investigation along. This was followed in December with a press conference to remind Cameron County residents (and voters since he is seeking reelection) that he was vigilant and on the job.
And just this past month he had another (with bells and whistles) to announce that all that is needed now was a signature of an Indian judge to get "Andy" back to the States.

May 16, 2014

Hyderabad, India: Local police linked the phone to a three-story apartment in Hyderabad on May 6, 2014. An hour later, the inspector arrived at Livingston’s residence. He knocked on the door. Livingston opened it and calmly identified himself as Sanjay Kumar. But when the inspector asked for Livingston, he became violent. It took both the inspector and his partner to subdue and arrest him.
When local authorities discovered Livingston was using a false name, they charged him with having used a false identity. This pending case held up Livingston’s extradition back to the United States for more than a year. A deal is worked out with the Indian government guaranteeing Livingston will not face additional charges in return for allowing him to be extradited to Cameron County. Saenz signs off on the agreement.

                                                                     January 7, 2015
Brownsville, Texas: Saenz filed the a request in the 404th state District Court for a second sentencing hearing in anticipation of Livingston’s extradition from India to the United States. That hearing never took place, according to Livingston's attorney of record Greg Gladden of Houston who questioned why Saenz would file such and "oddball" motion. Gladden said the victim’s family spoke their piece when former 404th state District Judge Abel C. Limas sentenced Livingston Feb. 13, 2007. Gladden said Saenz’s motion was “irritating because he’s claiming it never happened and it already happened.”                            

“He doesn’t have any business doing this,” Gladden said of Saenz, noting the state had lost jurisdiction in the case.  Gladden suggested the apparent attempt by Saenz to drag Livingston back to state court could be for want of press.

July 13, 2015

New Delhi, India: At long last, Livingston’s false identity case was dropped, and he was cleared for extradition. On July 13, 2015, DS special agents boarded a flight with Livingston out of New Delhi International Airport. Upon arriving at Newark International Airport in New Jersey, they handed him over to U.S. Marshals, who escorted him to Culver County, Texas, and then on to Cameron County to hand him over to the Cameron County Sheriff, the official who is in charge of taking custody of prisoners, not the D.A.

July 15

Saenz tells the local daily that – despite the actions by U.S. and international law enforcement bodies described above – the case had gone "dormant" from 2007 to 2013 when he came into office and "prioritized" it and vowed to brain gthe fugitive top justice.

 

July 16, 2015

Houston, Harlingen, Texas: Saenz, knowing that Livingston is now in Texas, travels to Houston at taxpayers' expense to board the same place carrying the prisoner accompanied by his chief investigator George Delaunay. Even though the transfer of the prisoner's custody is made between the U.S. Marshal's Office and Cameron County Sheriff's Dept. investigator Carlos Garza, Saenz insisted on going down the steps first to maximize the public relations potential of the coverage.
Saenz and DeLaunay, formed part of the procession.
"Everyone snubbed Luis," said a member of the law enforcement team present at the tarmac. "As a district attorney he really had no role to play in the transfer of custody. Everyone saw it as an attempt to grab the credit in front of the cameras."
At a press conference held after Livingston was taken into custody by the Sheriff's Dept., Saenz stood before the cameras with the victim's mother and said he had delivered on "his promise." The poster board featured a picture of the fugitive and the words "case closed" and "justice served."
Later, he thanked his Facebook likes (all 357 of them).
Cortez, who is now running for sheriff against Omar Lucio said he attended the event because he was invited and because he "assisted in locating Livingston in India."

July 17, 2015

Harlingen, Texas: “It seems to me like the DA’s Office would want this put to bed,” said Gladden. He said just about everyone who touched the case had gotten into trouble, “except for me.”
Gladden urged Saenz to follow the law and his oath.
“As it turns (out) the allocution already took place in front of Judge Limas,” Saenz’s office responded Tuesday when asked if Saenz still intended to pursue his motion.