Immigrant Arrested After Accusation of Beheading
An illegal immigrant, alleged to have beheaded a missing woman and concealed her body in a bleach-filled container, was arrested by immigration and customs enforcement three months after a shocking accusation from an Illinois judge, officials reported.
Jose Luis Mendoza Gonzalez, 52, a Mexican national, was apprehended Saturday afternoon at a Chicago market. This followed claims that he had hidden and abused the body of Megan Boss in April.
Lake County Judge Randy Bruno stirred disbelief when he released Mendoza Gonzalez during a court appearance.
A spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security expressed disgust, stating, “It’s absolutely repulsive that this monster walked freely on the streets of Illinois, where it allegedly committed such a heinous crime.” He added, “There’s justice in Megan Boss and her family.”
Megan Boss, 37, was reported missing in March, with her body being discovered a month later. Authorities first arrested Mendoza Gonzalez in April after finding the victim’s headless body hidden in a bleach-sodden storage box in the garden of his Waukegan home.
Reports indicate that Mendoza Gonzalez informed police that she had vanished in February. However, he later claimed she overdosed at his home. He described a confusing sequence of events where he supposedly called for help, broke the phone, and then hid it in the basement for two days before moving the body outside.
Notably, Boss’s body had reportedly been decomposing in his yard for nearly two months before discovery. Initially arrested, Mendoza Gonzalez was released around 48 hours later due to Illinois’s controversial safe laws.
One source commented, “I think the very next day, the person arrested for this was released under the Safe T Act and hasn’t been detained for more than 48 hours.” There are, perhaps, troubling aspects to this case: the nature of the crime, the duration it was concealed, and the fact that the suspect is not a U.S. citizen, leading to concerns he might flee the country.
Mendoza Gonzalez is currently in ICE custody. Officials from DHS did not respond quickly to requests for commentary on the situation.
