Sheriff’s deputies arrested a suspect last week who is accused of a double homicide and attempted murder 25 years ago. On April 14, 1994, about 11 p.m., a Morongo Basin Sheriff’s deputy stopped a van in Morongo Valley that was in the middle of Highway 62 near Rawson Road with its emergency flashers on. The deputy saw that the driver, Enrique Munoz, who was 22 years old at the time, appeared to be covered in blood. In the back of the van were two men who had been killed from multiple gunshot wounds. The men were later identified as Jesus Munoz, 17, and Portirio Cardenas, 24, both from Los Angeles. Munoz was taken to a hospital, treated for his wounds, and later released. Homicide detectives learned during their investigation that Noe Banuelos, 45, and Mario Banuelos, 49, of Yuma, summoned the three victims to a home in the Coachella Valley where they were assaulted and forced into a van. The suspects drove the van to Morongo Valley and shot the victims multiple times, before fleeing in another vehicle. Munoz survived the shooting and drove the van onto the highway where he was discovered by the deputy. Noe Banuelos and Mario Banuelos fled to Mexico. Deputies learned last July that Noe Banuelos had been killed in Sonora, Mexico. On January 24, detectives learned that Mario Banuelos had been arrested January 19 at the border crossing in Yuma, Arizona. When Banuelos waived extradition, detectives went to Arizona and arrested Mario Banuelos for investigation of two counts of murder and attempted murder, booked into the Glen Helen Rehabilitation Center, with his bail set at $3 million. Mario Banuelos pleaded not guilty during his arraignment January 29.
