page_title: 2002 East End murders
section_title: Trial and punishment
hierarchical_section_title: 2002 East End murders / Trial and punishment
caption_attribution_description: English: Allan B. Polunsky Unit Español: Unidad Allan B. Polunsky
context_page_description: In 2002, a crime spree involving the murders of two women and one teenage girl occurred in the East End area of Houston, Texas. The three perpetrators were two adult men and one teenage boy: Edgardo Rafael Cubas Matamoros, a Honduran citizen; Walter Alexander Sorto, a Salvadoran citizen; and Eduardo Navarro, a 15-year-old boy at the time of the crimes.
context_section_description: Sorto entered a police station in an attempt to claim a reward for solving the crimes. He confessed to committing crimes after his arrest. On the day of Sorto's arrest, the teenage boy was arrested at his residence. Cubas was arrested while on the job at a construction site in Tomball, Texas. Gilberto Villarreal, one of Cubas's lawyers, stated that in addition to Alvarado, Cubas also confessed to killing Capulin.
  Prosecutors sought the death penalty for Sorto and Cubas. Navarro was under 18 years of age at the time of the crimes, and therefore was ineligible for the death penalty. Navarro served as the getaway driver during the deaths of Capulin and Rangel. He was to be tried as an adult.
  In November 2003 Sorto was sentenced to death for the murders of Capulin and Rangel.
  Frances "Poppy" Northcutt and Villarreal were Cubas's defense attorneys. During his trial, seven of Cubas's relatives traveled to Houston to provide testimony; they were residents of Honduras. Cubas was convicted of the capital murder of Alvarado on May 10, 2004. He was sentenced to death on May 22, 2004 after the jury deliberated for two and one half hours.
  Male death row inmates in Texas are housed in the Polunsky Unit in West Livingston.
  Cubas's execution was originally scheduled for January 16, 2014, but the execution date was rescinded.
caption: The adult perpetrators are housed in the Polunsky Unit
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