U.S. GOVT.: THE TRUE STORY OF AMIT'S CAPTURE, RETURN

(Ed.s Note: This afternoon during the stage-managed megamedia press conference on behalf of Cameron County District Attorney Luis V. Saenz, the murdered victim's family will probably be trotted out to thank the DA effusively for his superhuman efforts to bring their relative's killer back to Cameron County. But as this narrative from the U.S. State Dept. indicates, Saenz had little or nothing to do with the federal government agencies' performance of their duty to capture the fugitive. Below is the real story. Notice there is not one mention of Saenz in the entire narrative and that he didn't take office until a full four years after the U.S. Marshals Office had located Livingston living under an assumed name in India.)

By U.S. State Department
July 14, 2015

Hermila Hernandez, a married mother of three children, was reported missing in southern Texas on a fall day in 2005. Four days later, on October 4, 2005, her body was found dead on a sand dune in a remote part of South Padre Island.

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 on February 13, 2007.

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.

Livingston’s father, a Chicago anesthesiologist, was later arrested for helping conceal a car investigators believe his son used to transport Hernandez' body, and for giving his son money to flee, then giving false information to authorities.

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 2012, four years after the Marshal's Office was  already on Livingston's trail.)

DSS has special agents assigned at Regional Security Offices (RSO) in more than 170 foreign missions. Additional DSS special agents, called assistant regional security officer-investigators (ARSO-I), are assigned to work in consular sections at U.S. Embassies and Consulates. These agents work closely with host-nation law-enforcement officials on U.S. investigations through the Diplomatic Security Criminal Investigative Liaison Branch.

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.

Based on that tip, a local investigator and the CFI explored numerous leads and eventually narrowed their focus to one person. After prolonged discussions, this person provided critical information – Livingston’s cell phone number.

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 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.

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. He will be spending the next 23 years in prison for depriving three children of their mother, Hermila Hernandez.

http://www.state.gov/m/ds/rls/244864.htm