Newark police arrest four men in killing of boy who lived as girl

NEWARK, Calif. (AP) - Police have arrested four men after finding a body they believe is that of a missing 17-year-old Newark boy who lived as a girl.

Police found the body Wednesday in a shallow grave in El Dorado County after being directed to the spot by a suspect a day earlier. They were withholding the boy's name pending identification of the body.

The boy was last seen at a party in Newark on Oct. 3 where he got into a heated argument and physical fight with several people, police said.

"We're dealing with a number of people who could have helped, stepped in, prevented or reported this," said Newark Police Lt. Lance Morrison. "None of them did."

Morrison said police believed the boy was assaulted and killed in Newark and described it as a "haunting and gruesome situation."

He refused to say how the boy was killed.

The teenager, who attended Newark Continuation School, had chosen to dress like a girl "for some time," according to Newark police Lt. Tom Milner.

"We don't know if that's the prime factor in the altercation or if there were other factors involved such as revenge," he said. "These things are all definitely in play."

Michael William Magidson, 27, Jaron Chase Nabors, 19, Paul Richard Merel Jr., 25, and his brother, Jose Antonio Merel, 24, all of Newark, were arrested Wednesday and were each being held on suspicion of homicide. Milner said investigators also were looking at adding hate crime enhancements.

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4 men held in death of Newark teen

By Lisa Fernandez and Dana Hull

At least one of four men in custody is expected to be charged today with killing a 17-year-old Newark boy police described as "a transgendered youth'' who liked to wear women's clothing.

The teen's body was found Wednesday buried in a shallow grave near Silver Fork Campground in Placerville, El Dorado County - about 150 miles northeast of his home.

The coroner there has yet to identify the remains. But Newark police suspect the body is that of a teenager reported missing by his mother Oct. 5, two days after a late-night party where he got into a "heated argument'' with some guests.

"The fight could have been a carry-over from a week prior,'' Lt. Tom Milner said. "We're investigating this as a possible hate crime because this person may have been living an 'alternate' lifestyle.''

Milner said police are investigating whether the boy was dressed as a woman when he attended the party in the 37000 block of Saint Matthews Drive, the home of two suspects.

Newark Unified School District Superintendent Ken Sherer identified the boy as Eddie Araujo, an independent study student since the eighth grade. He would have been a senior this year but hadn't shown up at Crossroads High School this fall.

Jaron Chase Nabors, 19, of Newark, is expected to face murder charges this afternoon at the Fremont Hall of Justice. Arrested early Wednesday, he was the first of four suspects to be taken into custody.

The other suspects arrested are Michael Magidson, 22, of Fremont, Paul Merel Jr., 25, and Merel's younger brother, Jose Merel, 24, both of Newark.

Arraignment dates for these suspects, held at Santa Rita Jail in Dublin, had not been scheduled by late Thursday afternoon. The suspects, or their family members reached at home, declined to comment.

Of the four, only Paul Merel has a criminal record in Alameda County. He was charged with being drunk in public and resisting arrest in August 2001. He pleaded no contest to the first charge, and the second was dismissed, court records show.

Newark police do not know where the 17-year-old was killed.

"It's possible he was assaulted, kidnapped and killed near Placerville,'' Milner said. "Or Newark could have been the murder scene and the body transported.''

No weapon has been found, and the cause of death has not been established. Police first learned of the body Tuesday when one of the suspects told them Eddie Araujo was buried in a wilderness area. On Wednesday, authorities discovered the grave site, dug about three feet deep in a remote spot.

Later that day, Newark police and the FBI served three search warrants and arrested the remaining three suspects. Eddie's friends were outraged to hear of his death.

"He would get made fun of because he was feminine,'' said one Newark Memorial High School student, who did not want her name to be used. "The girls loved him, but the boys had trouble with him.''

A teacher who knew Eddie described him as a "happy-go-lucky'' and intelligent teen who was well liked by his peers in the program. Other teachers in the district expressed shock and sadness at the news.

"Many of the students know him. One student told me that he was a cross-dresser, and she thinks that's maybe why he was killed,'' said Mary Kay Henderson, a teacher at Newark Memorial High School. "We're heartsick.''

The Newark community has taken pains to teach tolerance this year. In November, Newark Memorial High School will perform "The Laramie Project.'' The play chronicles the murder of Matthew Shepard, an openly gay University of Wyoming student who was killed in October 1998. A Kansas fundamentalist preacher has promised to picket the play.

"When I'm up there on stage and they're talking about how Matthew Shepard was beaten, it makes me wonder if Eddie had to go through this too,'' said a friend, who is also in the play.

Acts of violence are common against gay, lesbian and transgendered youth -- even in the liberal Bay Area, said Tina D'Elia, hate violence director of the San Francisco-based Community United Against Violence. But murder is very rare, she said.

"This case is so disheartening,'' D'Elia said. "For the poor victim, as brave as it is to be a transgender or cross-dressing youth, to be himself. What's also really sad is the age of the perpetrators. They're so young. Look at the education we have to do. It's important that we teach anti-discrimination and anti-homophobia. Hate is wrong. I hope the perpetrators will give a real apology. Otherwise, we'll just keep seeing horrible things like this happen.''

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