Path To Atonement
Chapter Three
Petra, this is Carol Murillo, our sexual assault counselor and victim interviewer. Carol has been with the AG’s
Office for twenty years,” said Nick.
“I look forward to working with you,” said Petra. Carol fit the image of a grandmother-to-be. She was in her fifties, pleasingly plump and had the warmest of smiles. Petra thought, She can probably get kids to talk about anything.
“Petra and Carol, I would like you to get details about Binsa’s family life, her contacts with Mister Rick, her stay with handler Bandari in Kathmandu, her transportation to Vietnam and all about the hotel in Tijuana. Please don’t forget to ask her about the vans that picked up the girls at the San Diego airport. There may be some insignia on the vans that can lead us to the perps.”
“We’ll cover it, Nick. Petra will fill me in and I’ve read Pepe’s report.”
“I hope you’re not planning on bringing your anatomically correct dolls?”
“No, Nick. I only bring them along when the victims are under the age of eight.”
“When can you to go to TJ and talk with Binsa?”
“I’ve cleared my calendar next week. Petra and I can go on
Monday and every day after that until we get all the information.”
“Thank you.”
Nick read Carol’s and Petra’s reports the following Friday. They had spent three afternoons with Binsa. The first afternoon, they took a walk, ate ice cream, and strolled through clothing shops on Avenida Revolución. Binsa had a real eye for clothes. She tried on a few outfits. By the end of the afternoon, she was chatting about her family and her life in Nepal. Binsa is the oldest of six children. Her immediate family and another family live in a longhouse. They have a communal kitchen and dining area in the middle. The walls are made of mud, elephant dung and clay. A thatched roof covers the long, narrow house.
Binsa often worked in the kitchen with her mother at the Tiger Tops Lodge. The lodge had English classes in the afternoon for the employees’ children. Binsa excelled at school.
The last two afternoons they talked about the trafficking and sexual victimization. Nick grimaced when he read Binsa’s physical description of Mister Rick: middle-aged and younger looking than Mr. Drummond, a smaller belly, brown hair cut just above his ears, and about the same height as Mr. Drummond. Mister Rick talked about his travels in Asia and Africa. He also spoke about two hotels he was involved with that were near national parks in America. Binsa did not remember the name of the parks. His wife, Miss Susan, had blonde hair and was not easy to talk to. She was always complaining. She was Binsa’s height and had a curvy body. Binsa demonstrated the curves with her hands.
According to the report, Mister Rick bought Binsa’s bus ticket to Kathmandu and gave her spending money. Madam Daxa Bandari met her at the bus station. She was older with gray hair and glasses. She was a few inches shorter than Binsa, overweight, and wore saris. And, she had a large mole on her left cheek. Her home was on a square next to a hotel. Binsa thought the hotel name might have been, Cistal or Cristel. The hotel was pretty, a light blue color with white trim. Madam Bandari had a manservant, who was very nice to Binsa. Madam Bandari was polite but was always telling Binsa what to do and how to behave. At the end of three days, she gave Binsa a roundtrip bus ticket to her village and loaned her $50 in Nepalese rupees for her parents. Binsa had never seen so much money at one time. Her parents were filled with joy to receive the money. It meant they could buy a goat for milk and have more food for the family.
After visiting her family, Binsa packed a small bag of clothes and the one photo of her family. She and her mother cried when she boarded the bus to Kathmandu. Binsa promised to send money. She told her mother that two years away from home was not that long of a time. She would come back with an education and could get a good job. Binsa remembered she left home on the day after her oldest brother’s birthday, which was January 14.
The next day, Madam Bandari rode with Binsa and three girls in a small bus to Varanasi. At the border, Madam Bandari had the bus driver give the border guard a thick envelope. No one checked the passengers’ identification. After one night in Varanasi at a small hotel on the Ganges River, Madam Bandari, and now eight girls, were driven to a small airstrip about an hour away.
At the airstrip, the girls were given over to an Indian man, Mister Patel. He was short and slender, with thinning black hair, and middle-aged. Mr. Patel went with them on a plane that landed on a small airstrip in Thailand, near a big river.
Mr. Patel then turned the girls over to a boat crew, and they motored along the river at night. The boat was open to the air, and it was very cold. A young crew member gave them blankets.
Just before dawn, they tied up at a small, wooden dock near a ferry crossing. There, they were met by an American, Mister Steve. He was about the same age as Mister Rick, but more slender and shorter. He had blonde hair that was long and curly. Mister Steve told the girls to leave their belongings in the boat, as they would be moved to a larger boat for the rest of trip. He walked them through the most beautiful city Binsa had ever seen. There were fancy twostory buildings, restaurants with tables overlooking the river and shops with wonderful clothes and art inside. They saw many men walking together on the streets wearing orange robes and carrying alms bowls. They all had bald heads. Mister Steve told the girls the men were Buddhist monks and were carrying bowls to receive gifts of rice from people along the street. They also saw fabulous temples with gold-colored spires. Mister Steve told the girls that they were in Laos. He told them the city’s name. It was a funny, two-word name that rhymed.
A couple of blocks from the river, Mister Steve took the girls to a bakery. Binsa ate a roll that melted in her mouth. Mister Steve called it a croissant. Mister Steve talked to them about San Diego. He told them how beautiful the ocean was and about a sport called surfing. After breakfast, they went back to the dock and got on a larger boat that had covered sleeping quarters. Mister Steve did not go with them. They traveled down the river for days. Binsa wasn’t sure how long. They docked by a huge city. Binsa could see tall buildings in the distance that touched the sky. The boat crew would not let them leave the boat. Two days later a man came aboard with visas and Thailand passports for the girls. The same man had taken each of their pictures when they had first docked. The man was Vietnamese. He told the girls to call him Mister Nguyen. He took them to the Ho Chi Minh airport, where the girls showed their passports and student visas to a man who checked their luggage. They boarded a huge plane with Mister Nguyen.
They landed in Taipei, where they boarded another huge plane. They sat in the middle rows in the center of the plane. Binsa could not remember the name of the first plane, but the second plane was called American. Her name on the Thailand passport was Binsa Jarupanivh. They flew all night and landed in Los Angeles. They went through customs and then took a flight on a smaller plane to San Diego. They arrived in the late afternoon. Mr. Nguyen turned the girls over to two van drivers. The vans were tall and skinny. They were white with a bed, sink and toilet inside. There was some writing on the side of the van and a picture. Binsa could only remember that the picture was of an animal.
The van drove along a big, wide road with lots of lanes of vehicles going the same direction. They passed through a border without stopping before parking a few minutes later in an alley behind a hotel. Binsa later learned it was called Hotel Rosa.
At the hotel, Binsa was walked up the stairs by a Mister Salvadore and a Madam Garza who took her to a room with one large bed. Madam Garza gave Binsa a light green pill to help her sleep. Binsa felt groggy. She could not move her arms and legs. She thinks she remembers people handling her. When she woke up, her vagina hurt and her rear was sore. She couldn’t remember anything that happened to her. She did remember that the sheets she woke up in were a different color from the sheets on the bed when she first laid down. The sheets were a pretty blue when she went to bed and were a dark brown when she woke up.
Binsa felt sick to her stomach that day. Madam Garza told her to rest. Madam Garza brought her toast. She was a big lady. She was old with lines on her face and walked with a limp. She had gray-black hair that hung down her back and always wore large, silver hoop earrings.
The next morning, Mister Salvadore came into her room with Madam Garza. He never smiled. He had a scar under his right eye. His black hair was slicked back. He had huge arm muscles. Mister Salvadore took out large, color photographs from an envelope. He made her look at them. He held her head towards them. He told her that he would send the photos to her parents unless she did everything he wanted.
Binsa started crying during this part of the interview. Petra and Carol took her for a walk outside until she regained her composure. Binsa was able to tell them what the photos showed, although she could not look at them when she spoke. One photo showed Binsa and a man naked, in the act of intercourse. Binsa’s eyes were closed and her arms were at her sides. Another photo showed Binsa on her side with one man in front of her and another behind her. A third photo showed Binsa with a man’s penis in her mouth. Binsa told us there were more photos—all similar. Binsa said, “I couldn’t let my parents see the photos. I couldn’t go home. I couldn’t marry.”
Binsa told them that various men came to her room over the next few days to practice sex with her. Salvadore had told her that there would be customers she was to have sex with, and that they would always wear condoms. He said she would not get pregnant. He also told her if any of the customers got rough with her, to tell him. Additionally, she had to act like she enjoyed it. If the customers wanted to talk, Binsa was to be nice to them and talk to them. If she did not do this, the photos would be sent and she would be beaten.
For about three months, Binsa would have eight to ten customers a night. It was always sexual intercourse. Madam Garza made her dress in a sari wrapped closely around her body, with nothing underneath. Madam Garza called Binsa her Persian Princess. Binsa had to wear her hair up and she had to wear dangling earrings. Madam Garza would apply red lipstick and eye makeup. Binsa had never worn makeup before. When a customer came to her room, she had to bow her head and say, “Welcome, Sahib.” She was told to then lift her eyes and smile shyly at each customer.
Binsa never discussed money with the clients. Usually, the clients would leave $10 or $20 by the bed. Madam Garza or another woman would take the money. One time a customer yelled at her, “You’re not worth the $100 I paid! You’re just lying there!” He left and slammed the door. A while later, Mister Salvadore came in with a belt. He slapped her and stripped her naked. He beat Binsa on her back and rear end. He screamed, “You have to show the customers you enjoy it! I lost $100 bucks! You’re lucky to just get a beating! If there’s a next time, I’m sending your parents the photos!” Binsa had red marks for days on her back and rear. The only good thing was that she did not have to work for two days.
Binsa described meeting Alejandro. She said that during the day, she met a couple of the younger employees who did maintenance work. One was Alejandro, who helped her escape, and the other was a young black man from Tanzania. He told her he used to work in a mine in Tanzania. His name was Daudi. He spoke about all the wonderful animals in Africa. Daudi had been recruited by Mister Steve the spring before to work at a hotel. From late spring until last summer, he had worked at a big hotel on the edge of Yellowstone Park. The name of the park stuck in her mind because yellow was her favorite color. When the snow came, they brought Daudi to Tijuana to work at Hotel Rosa. He had a seasonal work visa and was paid $50 a week. He was 19 years old.
Binsa was initially afraid to go along with Alejandro’s escape plan. She finally realized she would rather die trying to escape than stay at the hotel any longer. Binsa told Alejandro that the hotel was quiet at five in the morning. Often, the man sitting on a chair at the end of the hall by the stairs was asleep at that time. One morning, she snuck by him, taking only the photo of her family. She had never been happier in her life than when the taxi drove her away from the alley.
Binsa said she never saw Mister Rick or Mister Steve at Hotel Rosa.
Nick was shaken by the report. He closed his eyes and thought about the leads they would need to investigate and arrest all of them.
Path To Atonement
Chapter Three
Petra, this is Carol Murillo, our sexual assault counselor and victim interviewer. Carol has been with the AG’s
Office for twenty years,” said Nick.
“I look forward to working with you,” said Petra. Carol fit the image of a grandmother-to-be. She was in her fifties, pleasingly plump and had the warmest of smiles. Petra thought, She can probably get kids to talk about anything.
“Petra and Carol, I would like you to get details about Binsa’s family life, her contacts with Mister Rick, her stay with handler Bandari in Kathmandu, her transportation to Vietnam and all about the hotel in Tijuana. Please don’t forget to ask her about the vans that picked up the girls at the San Diego airport. There may be some insignia on the vans that can lead us to the perps.”
“We’ll cover it, Nick. Petra will fill me in and I’ve read Pepe’s report.”
“I hope you’re not planning on bringing your anatomically correct dolls?”
“No, Nick. I only bring them along when the victims are under the age of eight.”
“When can you to go to TJ and talk with Binsa?”
“I’ve cleared my calendar next week. Petra and I can go on
Monday and every day after that until we get all the information.”
“Thank you.”
Nick read Carol’s and Petra’s reports the following Friday. They had spent three afternoons with Binsa. The first afternoon, they took a walk, ate ice cream, and strolled through clothing shops on Avenida Revolución. Binsa had a real eye for clothes. She tried on a few outfits. By the end of the afternoon, she was chatting about her family and her life in Nepal. Binsa is the oldest of six children. Her immediate family and another family live in a longhouse. They have a communal kitchen and dining area in the middle. The walls are made of mud, elephant dung and clay. A thatched roof covers the long, narrow house.
Binsa often worked in the kitchen with her mother at the Tiger Tops Lodge. The lodge had English classes in the afternoon for the employees’ children. Binsa excelled at school.
The last two afternoons they talked about the trafficking and sexual victimization. Nick grimaced when he read Binsa’s physical description of Mister Rick: middle-aged and younger looking than Mr. Drummond, a smaller belly, brown hair cut just above his ears, and about the same height as Mr. Drummond. Mister Rick talked about his travels in Asia and Africa. He also spoke about two hotels he was involved with that were near national parks in America. Binsa did not remember the name of the parks. His wife, Miss Susan, had blonde hair and was not easy to talk to. She was always complaining. She was Binsa’s height and had a curvy body. Binsa demonstrated the curves with her hands.
According to the report, Mister Rick bought Binsa’s bus ticket to Kathmandu and gave her spending money. Madam Daxa Bandari met her at the bus station. She was older with gray hair and glasses. She was a few inches shorter than Binsa, overweight, and wore saris. And, she had a large mole on her left cheek. Her home was on a square next to a hotel. Binsa thought the hotel name might have been, Cistal or Cristel. The hotel was pretty, a light blue color with white trim. Madam Bandari had a manservant, who was very nice to Binsa. Madam Bandari was polite but was always telling Binsa what to do and how to behave. At the end of three days, she gave Binsa a roundtrip bus ticket to her village and loaned her $50 in Nepalese rupees for her parents. Binsa had never seen so much money at one time. Her parents were filled with joy to receive the money. It meant they could buy a goat for milk and have more food for the family.
After visiting her family, Binsa packed a small bag of clothes and the one photo of her family. She and her mother cried when she boarded the bus to Kathmandu. Binsa promised to send money. She told her mother that two years away from home was not that long of a time. She would come back with an education and could get a good job. Binsa remembered she left home on the day after her oldest brother’s birthday, which was January 14.
The next day, Madam Bandari rode with Binsa and three girls in a small bus to Varanasi. At the border, Madam Bandari had the bus driver give the border guard a thick envelope. No one checked the passengers’ identification. After one night in Varanasi at a small hotel on the Ganges River, Madam Bandari, and now eight girls, were driven to a small airstrip about an hour away.
At the airstrip, the girls were given over to an Indian man, Mister Patel. He was short and slender, with thinning black hair, and middle-aged. Mr. Patel went with them on a plane that landed on a small airstrip in Thailand, near a big river.
Mr. Patel then turned the girls over to a boat crew, and they motored along the river at night. The boat was open to the air, and it was very cold. A young crew member gave them blankets.
Just before dawn, they tied up at a small, wooden dock near a ferry crossing. There, they were met by an American, Mister Steve. He was about the same age as Mister Rick, but more slender and shorter. He had blonde hair that was long and curly. Mister Steve told the girls to leave their belongings in the boat, as they would be moved to a larger boat for the rest of trip. He walked them through the most beautiful city Binsa had ever seen. There were fancy twostory buildings, restaurants with tables overlooking the river and shops with wonderful clothes and art inside. They saw many men walking together on the streets wearing orange robes and carrying alms bowls. They all had bald heads. Mister Steve told the girls the men were Buddhist monks and were carrying bowls to receive gifts of rice from people along the street. They also saw fabulous temples with gold-colored spires. Mister Steve told the girls that they were in Laos. He told them the city’s name. It was a funny, two-word name that rhymed.
A couple of blocks from the river, Mister Steve took the girls to a bakery. Binsa ate a roll that melted in her mouth. Mister Steve called it a croissant. Mister Steve talked to them about San Diego. He told them how beautiful the ocean was and about a sport called surfing. After breakfast, they went back to the dock and got on a larger boat that had covered sleeping quarters. Mister Steve did not go with them. They traveled down the river for days. Binsa wasn’t sure how long. They docked by a huge city. Binsa could see tall buildings in the distance that touched the sky. The boat crew would not let them leave the boat. Two days later a man came aboard with visas and Thailand passports for the girls. The same man had taken each of their pictures when they had first docked. The man was Vietnamese. He told the girls to call him Mister Nguyen. He took them to the Ho Chi Minh airport, where the girls showed their passports and student visas to a man who checked their luggage. They boarded a huge plane with Mister Nguyen.
They landed in Taipei, where they boarded another huge plane. They sat in the middle rows in the center of the plane. Binsa could not remember the name of the first plane, but the second plane was called American. Her name on the Thailand passport was Binsa Jarupanivh. They flew all night and landed in Los Angeles. They went through customs and then took a flight on a smaller plane to San Diego. They arrived in the late afternoon. Mr. Nguyen turned the girls over to two van drivers. The vans were tall and skinny. They were white with a bed, sink and toilet inside. There was some writing on the side of the van and a picture. Binsa could only remember that the picture was of an animal.
The van drove along a big, wide road with lots of lanes of vehicles going the same direction. They passed through a border without stopping before parking a few minutes later in an alley behind a hotel. Binsa later learned it was called Hotel Rosa.
At the hotel, Binsa was walked up the stairs by a Mister Salvadore and a Madam Garza who took her to a room with one large bed. Madam Garza gave Binsa a light green pill to help her sleep. Binsa felt groggy. She could not move her arms and legs. She thinks she remembers people handling her. When she woke up, her vagina hurt and her rear was sore. She couldn’t remember anything that happened to her. She did remember that the sheets she woke up in were a different color from the sheets on the bed when she first laid down. The sheets were a pretty blue when she went to bed and were a dark brown when she woke up.
Binsa felt sick to her stomach that day. Madam Garza told her to rest. Madam Garza brought her toast. She was a big lady. She was old with lines on her face and walked with a limp. She had gray-black hair that hung down her back and always wore large, silver hoop earrings.
The next morning, Mister Salvadore came into her room with Madam Garza. He never smiled. He had a scar under his right eye. His black hair was slicked back. He had huge arm muscles. Mister Salvadore took out large, color photographs from an envelope. He made her look at them. He held her head towards them. He told her that he would send the photos to her parents unless she did everything he wanted.
Binsa started crying during this part of the interview. Petra and Carol took her for a walk outside until she regained her composure. Binsa was able to tell them what the photos showed, although she could not look at them when she spoke. One photo showed Binsa and a man naked, in the act of intercourse. Binsa’s eyes were closed and her arms were at her sides. Another photo showed Binsa on her side with one man in front of her and another behind her. A third photo showed Binsa with a man’s penis in her mouth. Binsa told us there were more photos—all similar. Binsa said, “I couldn’t let my parents see the photos. I couldn’t go home. I couldn’t marry.”
Binsa told them that various men came to her room over the next few days to practice sex with her. Salvadore had told her that there would be customers she was to have sex with, and that they would always wear condoms. He said she would not get pregnant. He also told her if any of the customers got rough with her, to tell him. Additionally, she had to act like she enjoyed it. If the customers wanted to talk, Binsa was to be nice to them and talk to them. If she did not do this, the photos would be sent and she would be beaten.
For about three months, Binsa would have eight to ten customers a night. It was always sexual intercourse. Madam Garza made her dress in a sari wrapped closely around her body, with nothing underneath. Madam Garza called Binsa her Persian Princess. Binsa had to wear her hair up and she had to wear dangling earrings. Madam Garza would apply red lipstick and eye makeup. Binsa had never worn makeup before. When a customer came to her room, she had to bow her head and say, “Welcome, Sahib.” She was told to then lift her eyes and smile shyly at each customer.
Binsa never discussed money with the clients. Usually, the clients would leave $10 or $20 by the bed. Madam Garza or another woman would take the money. One time a customer yelled at her, “You’re not worth the $100 I paid! You’re just lying there!” He left and slammed the door. A while later, Mister Salvadore came in with a belt. He slapped her and stripped her naked. He beat Binsa on her back and rear end. He screamed, “You have to show the customers you enjoy it! I lost $100 bucks! You’re lucky to just get a beating! If there’s a next time, I’m sending your parents the photos!” Binsa had red marks for days on her back and rear. The only good thing was that she did not have to work for two days.
Binsa described meeting Alejandro. She said that during the day, she met a couple of the younger employees who did maintenance work. One was Alejandro, who helped her escape, and the other was a young black man from Tanzania. He told her he used to work in a mine in Tanzania. His name was Daudi. He spoke about all the wonderful animals in Africa. Daudi had been recruited by Mister Steve the spring before to work at a hotel. From late spring until last summer, he had worked at a big hotel on the edge of Yellowstone Park. The name of the park stuck in her mind because yellow was her favorite color. When the snow came, they brought Daudi to Tijuana to work at Hotel Rosa. He had a seasonal work visa and was paid $50 a week. He was 19 years old.
Binsa was initially afraid to go along with Alejandro’s escape plan. She finally realized she would rather die trying to escape than stay at the hotel any longer. Binsa told Alejandro that the hotel was quiet at five in the morning. Often, the man sitting on a chair at the end of the hall by the stairs was asleep at that time. One morning, she snuck by him, taking only the photo of her family. She had never been happier in her life than when the taxi drove her away from the alley.
Binsa said she never saw Mister Rick or Mister Steve at Hotel Rosa.
Nick was shaken by the report. He closed his eyes and thought about the leads they would need to investigate and arrest all of them.