FOX 14 TV Joplin and Pittsburg News Weather Sports |Man convicted of killing Butler CC student sentenced to life in prison

Man convicted of killing Butler CC student sentenced to life in prison

Updated March 31, 2010 - 12:30 PM CST

A man convicted of killing a Kansas college student who was also an Internet porn model will spend the rest of his life behind bars.

Israel Mireles was convicted of capital murder and rape in the death of Emily Sander, 18, a student at Butler Community College.

Sander left a southeast Kansas bar with Mireles in November 2007.

Six days later her battered, nude body was found about 50 miles away.

On Tuesday a Butler County judge sentenced Mireles to just under 17 years for rape and life without parole for the capital murder charge.

Both sentences will run consecutively.

Updated Feb 12, 2010 - 5:00 PM CST

EL DORADO, KAN. - A Kansas jury finds Israel Mireles guilty of capital murder in the death of Butler Community College student Emily Sander.

The disappearance of the 18 year old received national attention when it was discovered she lived a secret life as an Internet porn model.

Mireles, 26, had said a mystery man killed Sander while she was in his hotel room and he fled because he knew police would blame him.

Sanders' family and friends cried as the guilty verdict came down.

Updated Feb 8, 2010 - 12:00 PM CST

Jury selection is set to begin in the murder trial of a man accused of killing a Kansas college student.

Israel Mireles is charged with capital murder, rape and aggravated criminal sodomy in the death of Emily Sander.  Sander's body was found in El Dorado, Kansas in November 2007, six days after she was reported missing.

Officials arrested Mireles the next month at a relative's home in Mexico.

Sander was a student at Butler Community College in El Dorado when she disappeared.

If convicted of capital murder, Mireles would get life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Suspected killer of Kansas teen begins his preliminary hearing

Updated Aug 18, 2009 - 7:23 PM CST

EL DORADO, KAN. - The murder of a Kansas college student who led a secret life as an Internet porn model drew national attention in 2007.

On Tuesday the preliminary hearing began for Israel Mireles, who is charged with capital murder, rape and aggravated criminal sodomy in the death of Emily Sander, 18.

At the time Mireles, then 24, was dating Victoria Martes, the sixteen year old granddaughter of a Baxter Springs woman who gave birth to his child in 2008.

Mireles was arrested in Mexico in 2007, then extradited to the U.S. in June.

Sander was a student at Butler Community College in El Dorado when she disappeared. Her body was found six days later.

Man suspected of killing Kansas college student makes court appearance

June 26, 2009 - 6:24 PM CST

A man suspected of killing a Kansas college student makes his first court appearance in Butler County.

Israel Mireles is charged with capital murder in the death of Emily Sander, 18.

Authorities say Sander led a secret life as an Internet porn model.

Sander's body was found in El Dorado, Kansas in November 2007, six days after she went missing.

Officials arrested Mireles in December on homicide warrant in Mexico.

Updated Dec 27, 2007 - 6:15 PM CST

Teenage pregnant girlfriend of murder suspect back in U.S.

Victoria Martens, 16, is in juvenile custody in Texas after her arrest last week as she crossed the border from Mexico.  Authorities have not said why she is being held.

Marten's grandmother lives in Baxter Springs, Kansas and says Victoria was staying with her for Thanksgiving when Israel Mireles came by her home to pick up her granddaughter.

Last week, Mireles was also arrested in Mexico, and charged with murder, rape and sodomy in the case of Emily Sander, the 18 year old Kansas college student whose body was found in the four states six days after she went missing from El Dorado, Kansas last month.

Updated Dec 20, 2007 - 7:40 PM CST

Pregnant teen's mother wants her daughter home

FROM THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

HAYS, Kan. (AP) - The mother of a pregnant teenager who fled to Mexico with a suspect in the killing of a college student said she is doing everything she can to get her daughter to return to the United States.

Sandy Martens said she has spoken to her daughter, Victoria Martens, several times since Israel Mireles' arrest Wednesday in Melchor Muzquiz, Mexico.

Victoria Martens, who is eight months pregnant, was found unharmed but has refused requests to return to the United States.

"I'm doing everything I possibly can in order to get her back into the States," Sandy Martens told The Hays Daily News, her employer. "They were going to get married, and she was going to stay down there, but now it's all changed. Right now, our main concern is getting her back to the border and back into the States, and then dealing with the aftermath after that."

Butler County prosecutor Jan Satterfield said there are no plans to file charges against the 16-year-old.  But Sandy Martens said her daughter is hearing conflicting information.

"Nobody down there is quite sure what charges are being brought against him," Sandy Martens said. "Some are saying kidnapping, she's having a hard time distinguishing what's right and what's wrong right now."

Mireles, 24, is charged with capital murder, rape and aggravated criminal sodomy in the death of Butler Community College student Emily Sander. The disappearance of the 18-year-old drew nationwide attention after it was discovered that she also led a secret life as an Internet porn model named Zoey Zane.

"She believes he's innocent of everything," Sandy Martens said of her daughter.

Mireles also is charged in Ellis County with aggravated indecent liberties with a child involving Victoria Martens, who is believed to be carrying his child. Martens was 15 at the time she became pregnant.

The couple plan to name the child Isabelle Marie.

Updated Dec 19, 2007

Israel Mireles captured

By JORDAN AUBEY

Authorities say it required international cooperation, but an arrest has been made in the death of Kansas college student Emily Sander.  The arrest ends an international manhunt for a man considered one of our nation's most wanted.

Details were announced at a news conference Wednesday afternoon.

Police say Israel Mireles, 24, was arrested Wednesday morning in Mexico.  Authorities charge Mireles the murder, rape and sodomy of Emily Sander, 18.

Sander was last reported seen alive last month when she left a bar in El Dorado, Kansas with Mireles.  Earlier this month, Sander's body was found in Woodson County.  Since then, police have been searching for Mireles."

"(Mexican authorities) have been following leads, keeping an eye on him, waiting for the issuance of the Mexican warrant," says Jan Satterfield, an attorney for Butler County.  "There was no authority from any authorities to arrest him until that went through all the appropriate channels including the state department in Mexico."

The U.S. Marshall's Office had to work deals with Mexican authorities to first arrest Mirales, then extradite him.  One of the deals reached is that there will be no death penalty.

Another key person of interest in this investigation was Mirales' girlfriend, Victoria Martens, now 17.  Mirales picked up Martens at her grandmother's home in Baxter Springs, Kansas.

Authorities say they know the where abouts of Martens and she is safe.  However, she refused attempts to return her back to the U.S.

Updated Dec 4, 2007 - 6:15 PM CST

Mother pleads for pregnant teenage daughter to call home

A Kansas mother says she wants to feel her grandchild kick again, and is pleading for her pregnant teenage daughter to call home.

Victoria Martens, 16, was staying at her grandmother's house in Baxter Springs for Thanksgiving when she was picked up by her boyfriend, Israel Mireles, according to the grandmother.

Mireles is being sought after by police in the death investigation of Emily Sander, 18, the missing college student whose body was found in Woodson County last week.

Police believe Martens is still with Mireles.

The pregnant teen's mother, Sandy, is asking that Victoria call home and let her know she's okay.

The last contact with Victoria was a text message sent more than a week ago.

Updated Nov 30, 2007 - 3:31 PM CST

Homicide investigators led to Baxter Springs, Kan.

By CHRISTINA TIPTON AND MIKE CORCORAN

Today, a Baxter Springs woman says KBI agents found a knife, clothing, and car keys in her trash can in their investigation of a homicide.

Israel Mireles, 24, is a suspect in the homicide of Emily Sander, 18, a college student in El Dorado, Kansas.  Police believe they have found the body of Sander along Highway 54 in Woodson County Thursday.

The girlfriend of Mireles is Victoria Martens, 16, who is seven months pregnant with his baby.  For Thanksgiving, Victoria stayed in Baxter Springs visiting her grandmother, Sue Martens.  According to Sue, Victoria left willingly with Mireles on Saturday, but she has not been seen since she left Baxter Springs.

Sue says Mireles made plans for he and Victoria to drive to Vernon, Texas to visit his family.  That is where police found the rental car he was driving.

Sue says after the two left her Baxter Springs home, the Kansas Bureau of Investigation questioned her and that is when they found the knife, clothing and car keys in her trash can outside.  She says officers told her some of the articles had blood on them.

Police say Victoria is not a suspect in the death of Emily Sander.

Her grandmother says the last time they heard from her was on Sunday.

In that phone conversation, Victoria explains what Mireles told her about what happened in the hotel room where Emily was last seen alive.

Updated Nov 29, 2007 - 5:07 PM CST

Butler Community College student Emily Sander, 18, went missing Friday.  Late Thursday afternoon police held a press conference to say they found a body and based on preliminary evidence, they believe it to be the body of Sander.

The body was found along U.S. Highway 54 about 50 miles east of El Dorado, Kansas.

Now the focus of their investigation is Israel, Mireles, 24.

Mireles was last seen leaving a bar with Sander Friday night.  His 16 year old pregnant girlfriend is also missing.