Mr. Perales was a humble man who lived with his wife out on a small acreage ranch off highway 359. They owned and operated their family business on their ranch selling used clothes in bulk. They often hired transient migrants to work in their used clothes business and provided them with free room and board. The Perales had several empty trailers on their property that they converted into sleeping quarters for their temporary workers. The Perales lived in a two-story house on the property approximately a hundred yards from the workers. Mr. Perales had recently hired a young man from Honduras named Guillermo whom everyone called William. William could not have been more than twenty-five years old. He had a medium build, dark skin, and piercing light blue colored eyes. He had been working on the ranch for a little over three weeks.
Mr. Perales had taken a liking to him because he was young, hardworking, always polite, and soft-spoken. Mr. Perales would often let William come into his house to eat his meals and to use the phone. One late night, Mr. Perales was awoken by someone knocking on his front door. The second-story balcony of Mr. Perales’s bedroom faced the front of the house. Mr. Perales turned on the outside lights that lit up the immediate area around the house. He went out on his balcony to see who was knocking at his door so late. It was William. Mr. Perales asked William, “what is it William, it’s late?” William looked up at Mr. Perales and asked if he could come into the house and have something to eat because he had supposedly missed dinner and was starving. Mr. Perales told William, “It’s late William.” “The kitchen is closed.” “You can have something first thing in the morning.” William kept starring at Mr. Perales with his piercing light blue eyes while remaining awkwardly silent. William then just turned around and walked off into the distance without saying another word. Mr. Perales blew it off and got back into bed. About thirty minutes later he heard another knock at his door. Mr. Perales went back out to his balcony to see who it was. He couldn’t believe it; it was William again. Mr. Perales said, “what is it, William? It is very late.” William stared at Mr. Perales in silence for what seemed like an eternity.
This time, the long silent stare with William’s piercing light blue eyes sent a chill up Mr. Perales’s spine. William eventually asked, “may I come inside and use your phone, Mr. Perales?” Mr. Perales responded, “It’s late William, can’t it wait for tomorrow?” William answered, “it really is urgent Mr. Perales.” Mr. Perales felt bad saying no but had a bad feeling inside about letting William in the house. Mr. Perales told William, “just a minute” and went back into his bedroom. He grabbed his cordless phone, tied a rope around it, and lowered it down to William from his balcony. William grabbed the phone and untied it from the rope. He stayed staring up at Mr. Perales in another long awkward silence. Then, without saying anything, William turned around and walked off into the darkness. At this point, Mr. Perales was freaked out. However, after thirty minutes or so, he calmed down and got back into bed. Later that night, Mr. Perales awoke abruptly to the sound of running water. In his home, he could hear the sound of water flowing through the pipes from within his walls when the waterspout outside his home was turned on. He looked out his window from the second story and saw the silhouette of a person bent over by the waterspout. He couldn’t believe it, it was William again.
Mr. Perales felt his heart begin to race. He thought, what the hell is this guy doing? Mr. Perales watched William through the window for a while. William looked back towards the window and stared at Mr. Perales. Then, William walked off out of sight. However, the water was left running. Mr. Perales was beside himself. He was pissed that the water was left running. He thought to himself, did he forget to turn it off? Should I go outside and turn it off? At the same time, the thought crossed his mind that maybe William was trying to lure him out of the house. Fifteen minutes or so had passed and the water was still running. It was driving Mr. Perales crazy. Another fifteen minutes or so passed, and the water was still running. Mr. Perales couldn’t stop thinking of the pond that was forming on the side of his house but his instincts told him not to go outside. Eventually, after almost an hour of the water running from the spout, Mr. Perales heard another knock on his door.
William started calling out to Mr. Perales from outside, “Mr. Perales, please let me in…I need to speak to you.” Mr. Perales looked out the window from his balcony and saw William standing a little further back out of the lit area. He appeared to have something in his hand. It looked like a stick or something. William leaned against his shoulder as he called out louder and louder for Mr. Perales. Mr. Perales squinted his eyes to focus better. He noticed a glistening on the object. As his eyes came into better focus, he realized that was not a stick. William was standing outside his balcony calling out to him holding a machete against his shoulder. Mr. Perales could feel the hairs on the back of his neck stick up as the fear coursing through his veins. Mr. Perales realized he did not have a phone anymore because he had given it to William earlier. He started panicking. He kept thinking, what if this guy breaks into my home? His mind was racing with different terrifying scenarios. Eventually, William stopped calling out for him and walked off into the darkness. Mr. Perales stayed awake the rest of the night standing guard in his bedroom. Several hours later, the sun began to rise lighting up the landscape. Mr. Perales walked downstairs looked out the window and saw that nobody was around. He cautiously went outside and turned off the waterspout that had flooded the side of his home. He found the phone nearby on a picnic table, grabbed it, ran back into his house, and called the authorities. Sheriff deputies arrived and began to walk toward the trailers the workers slept in to look for William.
As they approached the trailer William stayed in, they noticed a trail of blood from the opening of the trailer leading out into the distance. They drew their firearms and began following the trail for about twenty-five yards into the brush. There they found a body covered in flies, mutilated beyond recognition, face down in a pool of blood. It had to be William’s bunkmate; another worker that had been staying at the ranch. They called for backup and started a manhunt for William. Deputies made their way back to William’s trailer. They went in and were shocked by what they found. Painted all over the walls were satanic symbols and phrases, along with MS-13 gang symbols. There were also satanic and gang drawings and symbols on papers thrown throughout the trailer. Mr. Perales and the investigators stood shocked in silence as they looked around. Mr. Perales found a drawing of him and his wife on the floor. The figures in the drawing had their names written next to them and his house was drawn in the background. Their figures had an x marked over them and satanic slurs throughout, referencing “the sacrifice.” Mr. Perales’s knees buckled, and he fell onto the mattress on the floor in a seated position. He couldn’t believe how close he and his wife were to their demise.
Based on true events…
Happy Halloween!
Gonzalez Druker Law Firm