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Paralegal's Estranged Father Murdered Before They Could Meet

By ParalegalGateway.com

A bloody fingerprint and a DNA match have tied a drifter to the January murder of Alexio Bello, a gay man found slain just before he was to finally meet his estranged daughter, police said Tuesday.

An arrest warrant for first-degree murder has been issued for Jorge Espinoza Navarette, 21, a Mexican national who detectives believe robbed and murdered Bello, 68.

''We believe he likes to target gay men,'' said Miami homicide Sgt. Confesor Gonzalez. ``He may still be in South Florida.''

Bello, who had once been married but later left the family after revealing he was gay, had never known his two children. A chance encounter with one of Bello's friends led daughter Joanna Bello, 28, to reconnect with her father by telephone.

They had planned to meet in person sometime in January.

''I'm glad Miami police are doing everything possible in order to resolve this case,'' Joanna Bello said Tuesday. ``It would bring closure knowing that they find this guy.''

Alexio Bello lived alone at El Lago Condominiums, 5505 NW Seventh St. He had met Navarette in late December at a coin laundry. They were seen together at a family New Year's Eve party.

On Jan. 3, a caretaker found Bello's body inside the apartment in what was recorded as Miami's first homicide of 2008. His two dogs, one covered in his owner's blood, remained alive inside.

Detectives declined to say how Bello was killed.

Police quickly zeroed in on Navarette, labeling him as a ''person of interest.'' But the curly-locked young man disappeared.

Navarette hails from the town of Las Vigas in the Mexican state of Guerrero. He came to Miami from Georgia and the Carolinas.

In May 2007, he was arrested in Georgia for beating up his mother, who lives in Atlanta. That charge is still pending.

''This is a very dangerous individual,'' said Miami Detective Orlando Silva.

Wanted fliers have been forwarded the FBI, the Georgia Bureau of Investigations and the State Department -- in case Navarette has left the country.

The story of Joanna Bello's search for her father drew media attention in Miami-Dade.

He had left the family shortly after Joanna Bello and her brother were born. She had longed to meet him, even thumbing through phone books looking for his name.

Last August, Bello -- a paralegal at Miami law firm Mustell & Borrow -- by chance met a client who had been her father's lover. The man recognized her familiar face.

He excitedly told her about Alexio Bello, who later called the firm. His first words to his daughter: ``I love you.''

Days after his death, Joanna Bello visited his condo with his family to help clean the ransacked apartment. On his coffee table sat a framed photo of her as a teenager that he had secretly obtained through a family friend.

''It's an emotion that's hard to describe. It made me feel good -- everybody was wrong. He did love me,'' Joanna Bello said.

``I've been getting to know my new family and they're great. I would have loved to have been with them along with my father, but I have to accept it. I have a big family now and it means a lot to me.''

Anyone with information on Jorge Espinoza Navarette can call Miami's homicide unit at 305-579-6530 or Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS. (Source)

Full post as published by ParalegalGateway Blawg on July 09, 2008 (boomark / email).