Three charged in teen’s death

Cross-dresser killed after gender revealed at party

? Three men were charged with murder Friday in the death of a cross-dressing 17-year-old boy whose body was found in a shallow grave two weeks after he disappeared from a party.

Police said Eddie Araujo showed up at the Oct. 3 house party as a girl named “Lida,” and was assaulted and killed after the suspects learned he was a boy.

The defendants allegedly beat him nearly unconscious, then tightened a rope around his neck until he appeared to be dead. They then drove his body to a remote spot in the Sierra foothills and buried him, a police affidavit said.

“They’re going to pay for what they did,” said Araujo’s aunt, Imelda Guerrero. “I hope everybody out there who sees this learns something from this, because he was a beautiful person inside and out.”

Michael Magidson, 27, Jaron Nabors, 19, and Jose Merel, 24, appeared Friday in court on charges of murder with a hate-crime enhancement. They entered no pleas and were held without bail.

Nabors’ lawyer, Robert J. Beles, said his client had no violence in his background.

“There’s no bias in him,” Beles said, nothing to indicate that Nabors “would actively participate in any type of homophobic activity.”

Jose’s brother Paul Merel Jr., 25, was arrested Wednesday but was not charged in the slaying, although he did face a parole violation. It wasn’t immediately clear whether he had been released from jail. Prosecutors left court without commenting.

According to the affidavit, Paul Merel’s girlfriend took Araujo into a bathroom at the Merels’ house to settle the question of his gender, then announced that Araujo was a boy.

Jose Merel punched Araujo to the floor and Nabors and Magidson joined in, police said. Paul Merel said he was sleeping at the time, but his girlfriend woke him and insisted they flee.

He told police he saw Araujo on the floor with his skirt pulled up as they left, but knew nothing more. Police said the other three drove the body to the mountains.

He was reported missing by his mother when he didn’t come home.

Araujo had been dressing like a girl “for some time,” and had clashed with the suspects about a week before the Oct. 3 party, said Newark Police Lt. Tom Milner.

“We don’t know if that’s the prime factor in the altercation or if there were other factors involved such as revenge,” Milner said. “These things are all definitely in play.”

Police said Nabors confessed on Wednesday and led them to the body, buried about 150 miles east of Newark at a site that could only be reached by four-wheel drive vehicle.

“We’re dealing with a number of people who could have helped, stepped in, prevented or reported this,” said Lt. Lance Morrison. “None of them did.”

Araujo identified himself as both a male and a female, sometimes going by the name Gwen, said Milner. His aunt said he was a fan of singer Gwen Stefani, but declined to comment on her nephew’s cross-dressing.

In a recent family photo, Araujo had carefully groomed eyebrows and makeup and his hair was highlighted and cut into a shoulder-length bob.

Daisy Bernal, a friend of Araujo, said he became upset when people referred to him as a boy. “After I called her that, she just said, ‘I’m a girl, I’m just a girl trapped in a guy’s body. God made me like that,”‘ Bernal said.