Informant38

Most of the men were born in Mexico; the only exception identified so far is Daniel Vargas Baena, a 19-year-old from Ecuador. When the consulate phoned a Mexican woman whose number was jotted on a slip of paper in the dead man's pocket, she said she sneaked with Vargas Baena into the United States. The Border Patrol caught them, though, and the pair lost touch.

Two of the slain men were locked up for drug charges in the same cell of the county jail last summer. And in two of the killings, the gunman fired a .38 Super, a gun that used to be a weapon of choice in Mexico. Beyond those faint connections, the victims are a baffling assortment. Tracking down their families is tough; convincing them to talk is even more difficult.

It was this very phenomenon that inspired the Immigration and Naturalization Service to ignore the immigration status of witnesses who came forth with leads during the hunt for the Washington, D.C.-area sniper. Looking on from Arizona, Arpaio's temper smoldered.

The sheriff sat down and penned a letter to the INS. In it, he asked that tipsters who could feed his investigation be given the same protection granted to potential Washington witnesses.

"The loss of life in Maricopa County is no less regrettable than the murders along the East Coast freeway system," he wrote. "Our intelligence resources indicate that illegal aliens with potential information are reluctant to come forward." The INS agreed to look for ways to cooperate with the sheriff.