Anonymous letter boosts Twin Falls investigation in killing of Mexican national

An anonymous letter written in Spanish helped lead investigators to file murder charges against a Twin Falls man who is accused of shooting a Mexican national and trying to burn the body, records say.

Juan Jose Hernandez-Quiroga, 41, of Twin Falls is charged with first-degree murder, kidnapping and four counts of destruction, alteration or concealment of evidence.

An affidavit related to the case was unsealed Friday, with the Twin Falls County Prosecutor’s Office indicating the seal was no longer necessary to preserve the defendant’s right to a fair trial.

On Sept. 6, records say, the police department received a letter claiming that a “Juan,” later identified as Hernandez-Quiroga, and his friends killed a man, later identified as Jose Israel Gallardo Eslava, at his workshop, and that Hernandez-Quiroga was warning people against going to police with information.

In early November, Hernandez-Quiroga, through his attorney, told investigators that he had shot and killed Eslava on April 18 after a verbal altercation at his residence south of Twin Falls, and said others witnessed the killing, records say.

Eslava was previously bound with electrical cord but released shortly before the shooting, records say.

Hernandez-Quiroga told investigators he tried to burn the body in a burn barrel, then afterward buried the body on his property.

Records say he later showed law enforcement officers where he buried the body and showed them how bullet holes and other signs of the killing had been concealed in his workshop.

The case goes back to May 25 when the Mexican consulate in Boise contacted the Twin Falls Police Department to file a missing person report for a Mexican national who in April had stopped communicating with his family.

Twin Falls County Prosecuting Attorney Grant Loebs didn’t immediately return a phone call to the Times-News about whether others would face charges in connection with the death.

A preliminary hearing has been set for Dec. 30.

This story was originally published December 12, 2022 at 2:53 PM.