Bio

Rodolfo Alvarez Medrano was born on May 14, 1979, in Hidalgo County, Texas. He completed the 12th grade. He worked as a computer technician and laborer. Medrano became involved with the Tri-City Bombers, a South Texas gang also known in court records as the Bombitas. In a police statement, he admitted that he was a gang member and said he held the rank of sergeant.

Court records also state that Medrano owned and supplied assault-style rifles. Prosecutors later argued that he gave weapons to other gang members before the January 2003 robbery and murders in Edinburg, Texas. Records indicate that Medrano was not present inside the house when the six victims were killed, but the state used his role in providing the guns to prove his involvement in the crime.

Murder Story

Rodolfo Alvarez Medrano’s case was connected to gang violence in Hidalgo County, Texas. He was a member of the Tri-City Bombers, a South Texas gang. Before the case that sent him to death row, Medrano was also linked to the September 2002 Donna murders, where four women were killed in a shooting. Authorities said the attack was meant as gang retaliation, but the intended targets were not in the vehicle.

The main case against Medrano happened on January 5, 2003, at a home on East Monte Cristo Road in Edinburg, Texas. Armed men entered the home during a drug-related robbery. They demanded drugs, money, and guns.

Six men were shot and killed:

Jimmy Edward Almendariz, Jerry Eugene Hidalgo, Ray Hidalgo, Juan Delgado Jr., Juan Delgado III, and Ruben Rolando Castillo.

Investigators later found weapons connected to the killings. A witness testified that Medrano gave him a gun case after the murders and asked him to hide it. Police later recovered rifles, ammunition, and gun cases. Evidence connected the recovered guns to the murder scene, and one rifle had a bloodstain consistent with victim Juan Delgado Jr.

Medrano gave a recorded police statement on January 25, 2003. He admitted that he was a Tri-City Bombers member and said he had provided weapons to other gang members. He claimed he did not go to the house and said he thought the others were planning to steal marijuana.

Prosecutors argued that Medrano was still legally responsible because he supplied the weapons used in the robbery and killings. He was tried in Hidalgo County and convicted of capital murder in August 2005.

On September 8, 2005, Rodolfo Alvarez Medrano was sentenced to death. His appeals continued for years, but his conviction and death sentence remained in place. As of the latest official records, he remains on Texas death row and has not been executed.