Law
Target of San Manuel murder plot went into hiding
The intended victim of a murder-for-hire plot involving two members of the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians faked his own death and went into hiding to avoid being killed, The Riverside Press-Enterprise reports.

Leonard Epps was told by police to leave the state and cut ties with his family. He remains in hiding even after two tribal members and a third person who is connected to the Mexican Mafia pleaded guilty for their attempt to murder him.

Epps, however, says Stacy Cheyenne Barajas-Nunez, her brother Erik Barajas and the Mafia member, Salvador Orozco Hernandez, are getting off easy. "These people are being considered for short-term sentences, using house arrest and probation," Epps wrote in a victim statement being read in court today. "Wow, to think that it is okay to seek out the services of death through murder-for-hire and get a pass on liability."

Epps believes he was targeted because he may have witnessed the attempted murder of one of his friends by another tribal member. The friend was subsequently murdered.

Get the Story:
Murder-for-hire plot sentences too light, intended victim says (The Riverside Press-Enterprise 8/7)
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