Wow,this crap is too close to home

[Nzoner]

I've known this guy for 15 years or more and am finding this really hard to believe.He's done business with me over the years and we had developed quite a good relationship.I'm shocked and hoping there's no way it's true.

Contract killing suspected in cashier's slaying

A St. Joseph restaurant owner is accused of paying $2,000 to kill a 23-year-old cashier whose body was found Saturday on an Andrew County gravel road.

Antonio Onate, 44, was charged Tuesday with first-degree murder for allegedly ordering the contract kill after he had a disagreement with Antonio Jose Maravilla-Vargas, Friends said Mr. Maravilla-Vargas was an amateur musician/DJ who played during special events at Mr. Onate’s restaurant, La Mesa Mexican Restaurant.

Authorities did not say what the argument was over. In court papers filed Tuesday in Andrew County, Mr. Onate allegedly “had a problem with” the victim and went to a friend, who said he would “take care of (his) problem.”

Mr. Onate allegedly paid $1,000 on April 27 and another $1,000 on May 2. The friend allegedly called Mr. Onate on Sunday and “told him his problem was taken care of and he could see it on the news,” according to court documents.

On Saturday evening, authorities received a phone call stating two men were dumping a body on a county road just north of Amazonia, Mo. Mr. Maravilla-Vargas’ body was found at the scene. Authorities said he was shot execution-style with at least one bullet to the head.

Mr. Onate is being held without bond at the Andrew County Jail. Law enforcement officers are looking for two men wanted for questioning. At his home in an affluent St. Joseph neighborhood on Tuesday, Mr. Onate’s sister-in-law said the family had no comment.

Last week, the News-Press interviewed Mr. Onate as part of a profile about La Mesa Mexican Restaurant making strides after being shut down for food health violations last summer. Mr. Onate said renovations were planned.

In 1993, Mr. Onate and his brother, Francisco, opened the restaurant at 3730 Mitchell Ave. Along with three other brothers, they operate eight other La Mesa restaurants in Kansas, Iowa and Nebraska.

Friends and roommates described Mr. Maravilla-Vargas as a quiet and hardworking man who moved to St. Joseph three years ago from Mexico. Sometime this week, his father, Eugenio Maravilla, hopes to take the body back to their hometown of Puebla, Mexico. Through an interpreter, he said his son joined him in St. Joseph to do construction work.

“Since he didn’t drink, do drugs and was responsible, I didn’t worry about him,” Mr. Maravilla said. “He wanted to work hard, find a decent job and build his home in Mexico.”

For the past six months, Mr. Maravilla-Vargas worked as a cashier at La Palma Tienda Mexicana, an ethnic grocery store on King Hill Avenue. Owner Gloria Sandoval said he had received computer repair training in Mexico and was adept at sending money orders for customers.

“If he was three minutes late, he would call,” Ms. Sandoval said. “How can anyone do that to a decent kid?”

Francisco Ochoa, a friend, said Mr. Maravilla-Vargas loved computers, his guitar and singing in the church choir.

“Is ($2,000) all that Antonio’s life was worth? It’s just disgusting,” Mr. Ochoa said. “How can you have a problem with someone who no one has a problem with?”

The three Mexican grocery stores in St. Joseph will have donation cups at the cash register this week to help his father cover funeral costs and travel to Mexico.

Law officers are seeking a burgundy Jeep Cherokee or a Dodge Durango seen near the site of the slaying. They are also seeking a blue, two-door, 2001 Pontiac Grand Am that the victim drove. Anyone with information is asked to call the TIPS hot line, 238-TIPS.