Israel Mireles killed 18-year-old Butler Community College student Emily Sander in an El Dorado, Kansas motel room on the night of November 23, 2007. A Butler County jury convicted him of capital murder and rape in February 2010, and he is serving life in prison without the possibility of parole, plus a consecutive 203-month sentence for the rape.1CJOnline. Man Gets Life for Killing Model
How Sander and Mireles Crossed Paths
Sander was 18 and studying at Butler Community College. Mireles, then 24, had moved to El Dorado in early October 2007 with his 16-year-old pregnant girlfriend, Victoria Martens, to help his employer Joe Terzui open a new restaurant, Bella Casa Italian Restaurant. Terzui rented Mireles and Martens a room at the El Dorado Motel next door.2FindLaw. State v. Mireles
On the evening of November 23, 2007, the two met at the Beijing Restaurant, where Mireles was buying drinks for Sander and her group at the bar. The group later moved to a bar called the Retreat, where Mireles paid the cover charges and witnesses saw the two dancing and kissing. Sander left with Mireles, telling acquaintances she would return. She never did.2FindLaw. State v. Mireles
What Happened in Room 21
The two went to Mireles’ motel room, Room 21 at the El Dorado Motel. An autopsy by Dr. Jamie Oeberst and testimony from sexual assault nurse examiner Diana Schunn established that Sander had been stabbed in the chest and vagina, strangled with a telephone cord, and struck with blunt force to the head. She also suffered severe injuries to her anus consistent with an assault using the handle of a toilet plunger found at the scene.3Kansas Courts. State v. Mireles
The next day, November 24, motel owner I.C. Patel found large quantities of blood in the room. He called Terzui, who told him to call the police.2FindLaw. State v. Mireles Sander’s body was found six days after she disappeared, nude and battered, along a road roughly 50 miles east of El Dorado near Highway 54.4NBC News. Man Convicted in Kansas Internet Model Slaying
Flight to Mexico and Extradition
Mireles wrapped Sander in a blanket, put her in his rental car, and dumped the body while driving to Baxter Springs, Kansas, to pick up Martens. Investigators later recovered a knife, its sheath, and Sander’s keys from a dumpster at Martens’ grandmother’s home in Baxter Springs. Sander’s blood was on the knife and on clothing found with it.5CJOnline. Man Convicted in Model Slaying The rental car turned up abandoned in Vernon, Texas, on November 27, 2007.6CBS News. Body of Missing Kansas Student Found
Kansas authorities were tracking Mireles inside Mexico by at least December 3. Mexican officials waited for assurances about the case and, under international agreements with Mexico, a commitment from Kansas prosecutors that they would not seek the death penalty.7NBC News. Suspect in Kansas Student Slaying Arrested in Mexico On December 19, 2007, Mireles was arrested at 9:45 a.m. in Melchor Múzquiz, Mexico, while staying with family. U.S. Marshal Troy Oberley said there was a “commotion” during the arrest, noting, “I can briefly say he was not willing to return.” No one was hurt.8Peoria Journal Star. Murder Suspect Mireles Captured
Martens, a juvenile, was picked up at the border and placed in temporary juvenile custody in Texas. She was not charged in connection with the case.9News On 6. Pregnant Girlfriend of Suspect Returns to U.S. The extradition itself took about a year and a half. Mireles was returned to the United States on June 25, 2009, and appeared before Butler County District Judge David Ricke the next day.10San Diego Union-Tribune. Suspect in Kansas Porn Model Slaying Back in U.S.
The Trial and the Evidence Against Him
Mireles was tried in Butler County District Court on charges of capital murder, rape, and aggravated criminal sodomy. Forensics tied him to the room and the body. His DNA was on a vaginal swab from Sander, on beer bottles in the motel room, and on the knife sheath from the dumpster. Sander’s DNA was throughout the room and inside his rental car.3Kansas Courts. State v. Mireles His fingerprints were on a beer bottle and broken glass, and his palm print was on the room’s window screen.11Siskiyou Daily News. Jury Hears Testimony on DNA
Mireles testified. He told the jury that after he and Sander drank beer in the room and had sex, an unidentified man came in and a drug dispute turned violent. He said he left the room and came back to find her dead. He admitted disposing of the body but denied killing her.4NBC News. Man Convicted in Kansas Internet Model Slaying
The jury deliberated for just over an hour. On February 12, 2010, it convicted Mireles of capital murder and rape. Judge Ricke dropped the aggravated criminal sodomy count as multiplicitous with the capital murder charge, which was itself predicated on that crime.3Kansas Courts. State v. Mireles
The Sentence
On March 31, 2010, Mireles was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for capital murder, with a consecutive 203-month term for rape.1CJOnline. Man Gets Life for Killing Model Because the extradition agreement with Mexico barred prosecutors from seeking the death penalty, life without parole was the maximum available.4NBC News. Man Convicted in Kansas Internet Model Slaying
The Appeal
Mireles appealed to the Kansas Supreme Court on three grounds: the admission of graphic autopsy and sexual assault examination photographs, the trial court’s refusal to instruct the jury on felony murder as a lesser included offense of capital murder, and alleged prosecutorial misconduct. The court found the photographs relevant to the violence of the attack, the cause of death, and premeditation, with each image showing a distinct wound or angle.3Kansas Courts. State v. Mireles
On the jury instruction, the defense argued Mireles may have been too intoxicated to premeditate and that jurors should have had the option of felony murder. Justice Eric Rosen wrote that while such an instruction might have been “appropriate,” the brutality of the attack established premeditation, and the court was not convinced the jury would have reached a different verdict.12CJOnline. Court Upholds Conviction in Zoey Murder Case
On May 10, 2013, the Kansas Supreme Court unanimously affirmed the convictions.12CJOnline. Court Upholds Conviction in Zoey Murder Case Mireles is serving life without parole.