Man tied to San Diego drug cases admits to killing couple and unborn child

SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — A man charged with the murder of two people, including a pregnant woman, and the death of her unborn child pleaded guilty in a San Diego federal courtroom on Monday, authorities said.

Benjamin Madrigal-Birrueta, 22, an undocumented Mexican national who was living in Yakima, Washington, admitted that he killed a man and his pregnant wife three years ago and buried their bodies near a remote ranch.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California, Madrigal-Birrueta and his co-conspirators shot Cesar Murillo, 44, multiple times in the back of his head and torso on Aug. 28, 2022, during an argument.

Then, the co-conspirators buried Murillo’s body near the ranch outside of Yakima per Madrigal-Birrueta’s orders, authorities said.

A few days later, on Sept. 2, 2022, Madrigal-Birrueta asked Murilla’s wife, Maira Hernandez, 33, to come by the ranch. At the time, Hernandez was unaware that her husband had been killed.

Madrigal-Birrueta picked her up in Yakima and drove her to the ranch where his co-conspirators shot her multiple times in the head. The defendant and his co-conspirators then buried her body near the ranch, according to his plea agreement. Her unborn child died in utero, authorities stated.

The plea agreement said Madrigal-Birrueta’s co-conspirators owed Murillo and Hernandez money for an unpaid drug debt.

Madrigal-Birrueta’s sentencing is scheduled for March 27, 2026.

Court filings showed Murillo and Hernandez had been interviewed by Homeland Security Investigations agents as part of an investigation into drugs entering the U.S. through San Diego-area ports of entry between August and October of 2021.

The investigation led them to a group of individuals operating out of Yakima. Authorities said the couple was murdered within days after they had been interviewed by federal agents. Their remains were recovered by authorities on Sept. 13, 2023.

Meanwhile, Ricard Orizaba-Zendejas has been charged with being an “accessory after the fact to murder” and as a co-conspirator in Madrigal’s drug trafficking organization. His trial is set for Oct. 27.