Livingston arrived in Texas from New Delhi today.
AB Wire
NEW YORK: Convicted murderer and fugitive Amit M. Livingston, an Indian American, who pleaded guilty to killing an Edinburg, Texas teacher and mother of three children, Hermila Hernandez, in October, 2005, and fled the country about eight years ago — returned to Harlingen, Cameron County on Tuesday, to face his prison term of 23 years.
Action 4 News on ValleyCentral.com reported that Livingston would land at Valley International Airport at about 3 p.m. Tuesday. Thereafter, the U.S. Marshals will hand Livingston over to the Cameron County Sheriff’s Office.Follow @ambazaarmag
Former state district Judge Abel Limas sentenced Livingston to 23 years in state prison in February 2007, but allowed him 60 days to put his affairs in order. Livingston, however, went on the lam, and finally managed to escape to India, and was hiding in Hyderabad.
The U.S. Marshals Service and Indian authorities arrested Livingston in Hyderabad, India, last May after seven years on the run.
The Brownsville Herald reported that Diplomatic Security Service agents boarded a flight with Livingston out of New Delhi International Airport, on Monday. Upon arriving at Newark International Airport in New Jersey, they handed him over to U.S. Marshals, who escorted him to Texas.
The former 404th state District Judge Abel C. Limas, without opposition from former Cameron County District Attorney Armando R. Villalobos and others, released Livingston after his conviction, the report noted. Limas sentenced the then 46-year-old Livingston to 23 years in prison.
Cameron County DA Luis V. Saenz made finding Livingston and extraditing him to the United States a priority since he took office in January 2013.
According to the US State Department, Hermila Hernandez, a married mother of three children, was reported missing in southern Texas, in 2005. Four days later, on October 4, her body was found dead on a sand dune in a remote part of South Padre Island.
Amit Livingston, an American medical billing specialist, was arrested and later admitted to having killed her because he believed she was about to end their brief relationship. He pleaded guilty to the crime and was sentenced in Cameron County, Texas, to a 23-year prison term on February 13, 2007.
Livingston’s father, a Chicago anesthesiologist, was later arrested for helping conceal a car investigators believe his son used to transport Hernandez’ body, and for giving his son money to flee, then giving false information to authorities.
Even though Livingston was listed by Interpol as a person wanted in the United States, and his mugshot was featured on America’s Most Wanted in June 2007, the case went cold. It was not until 2008 when the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS) requested assistance in the case from the Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) that it gained traction.
DSS has special agents assigned at Regional Security Offices (RSO) in more than 170 foreign missions. Additional DSS special agents, called assistant regional security officer-investigators (ARSO-I), are assigned to work in consular sections at U.S. Embassies and Consulates. These agents work closely with host-nation law-enforcement officials on U.S. investigations through the Diplomatic Security Criminal Investigative Liaison Branch.
Starting in 2008, ARSO-I and the Criminal Fraud Investigator (CFI), a locally hired employee at U.S. Embassy New Delhi, repeatedly met with local government authorities. In spite of targeted record checks, local officials were not able to find substantive information, hence no action was taken.
Over the next several years, local police officers located a couple of Livingston’s relatives, but investigations yielded no credible leads. The search for the murderer finally took a positive turn in 2013 when the ARSO-I and CFI received a credible tip.
Based on that tip, a local investigator and the CFI explored numerous leads and eventually narrowed their focus to one person. After prolonged discussions, this person provided critical information – Livingston’s cell phone number.
After extensive analysis, and based on Livingston’s employment history, the CFI was able to locate his current place of employment. When the CFI showed the manager of this transcription service a photo of Livingston, he immediately recognized him as a contract employee who went by a different name – Sanjay Kumar.
Local police linked the phone to a three-story apartment in Hyderabad on May 6, 2014. An hour later, the inspector arrived at Livingston’s residence. He knocked on the door. Livingston opened it and calmly identified himself as Sanjay Kumar. But when the inspector asked for Livingston, he became violent. It took both the inspector and his partner to subdue and arrest him.
When local authorities discovered Livingston was using a false name, they charged him with having used a false identity. This pending case held up Livingston’s extradition back to the United States for more than a year.
1 Comment
NOT LIFE???Not the death penalty??Too bad he didnt have any drugs in texas they would have executed him…I BET that a Lawyer friend of the judge got millions to defend him& split it w the Judge,,,Letting him settle his affairs???