Woman Accused of Hiring 2 to Kill Man for $50 Each

For $100, a 22-year-old woman hired two gang members who killed a grocery clerk so she could romantically pursue the clerk’s wife, authorities said Thursday.

“Every aspect of this case is extremely unusual for Burbank,” a city of 90,000 with a comparatively low homicide rate, Deputy Dist. Atty. Mark Collier said.

Jose Salazar, 37, was shot once in the head last Aug. 22 as he emerged from his truck in front of his home in the 700 block of East Cedar Avenue in Burbank. His wife, Cecelia, who was with him, was unharmed.

Investigators now say the shooting was arranged by Maria Serrato of Los Angeles, who was arrested last week after a nearly yearlong investigation, Burbank Police Lt. Larry Koch said.

Serrato was being held at the Sybil Brand Institute, the county women’s jail, on suspicion of murder-for-hire, a capital offense. She is scheduled for arraignment in Burbank Municipal Court July 22.

During the weekend, police also arrested a 16-year-old youth described as a member of a downtown Los Angeles gang. They are still looking for a second gang member Serrato allegedly hired for a total of $100 to kill Salazar, who worked at a Pioneer Market in Echo Park, Collier said.

Collier said Serrato and Cecelia Salazar met at a Von’s Supermarket in West Hollywood, where they both worked. Serrato told police they became lovers, but Cecelia Salazar denied being sexually involved with Serrato and maintains they were just friends, Collier said.

Cecelia Salazar is not a suspect, Koch and Collier said.

Serrato emerged as a prime suspect early in the investigation, after she told police she had not liked Salazar and was involved in a relationship with his wife, Collier said.

The alleged price of Salazar’s death has prompted investigators to worry about witnesses’ safety.

“If for a price like that you can have somebody killed just because it’s someone you’re mad at, or are jealous of, what would it take to kill someone who’s a witness?” Koch asked.