Ending A Trail Of Violence
October 30, 2015
In the 12 months after he escaped from prison, Marcos* killed at least three people.
He was constantly on the move — and the police were constantly a step behind. He’d bounce from the rural hills outside of Honduras’ capital city, Tegucigalpa, to poor urban neighborhoods and back again — leaving a trail of crime and violence in his wake.
What made Marcos’s killings even more painful was that they would never have happened if he hadn’t escaped from prison after ASJ (formerly known as AJS) staff risked their lives to stop him seven years earlier.
In Broad Daylight
In 2005, 14-year-old Isaac* had gotten mixed up with some bad folks. One September night, he found himself at a birthday party that had taken a wild turn with alcohol, dancing, and unsavory characters.
Across the room from Isaac, a group of men stood eyeing him and talking in hushed tones; Marcos was among them. Around midnight, the men grabbed Isaac and took him outside. They brought him down a dark road that led to the neighborhood soccer field. After 40 minutes passed, the men returned without Isaac. His body was found in the field the next morning.
Marcos was part of a group of criminals who called themselves “The Masked Ones.” Led by a Honduran military deserter who took guns and equipment with him when he left, the group had gained a fearsome reputation for killing anyone they didn’t like and calling it “cleaning up the neighborhood.”
The group is believed to have killed at least twenty boys between 11 and 17 years old. The ruthless squad nabbed kids drinking sodas right outside of neighborhood shops and drove away with them in broad daylight.
Honduras’ weak and corrupt police force was no match for the group’s callous violence, and they continued murdering youth for two years. Then ASJ began working on the case.
Teams of brave lawyers, psychologists, and investigators from ASJ worked exhaustively with trustworthy Honduran authorities to arrest and convict nearly all the members of the group in 2006 and 2007. Marcos was among those sent to prison. The community breathed a little easier.
It was in communities like this one where Marcos continued his violence. The gang he helped lead had killed 20 boys between 11 and 17 years old.
Back on the Loose
In Honduras, prison escapes happen with regrettable frequency. An ASJ investigation found that at least 15 dangerous prisoners escaped from 2010-2014. Last year, Marcos was one of them.
His next murder happened only 12 days after escaping from prison. Marcos was helping to run an extortion operation that involved forcing bus drivers to pay them a portion of the fares they collected.
Miguel* was a shoe salesman who worked near a bus terminal in a poor neighborhood of the city. As he was working on a spring day last year, a false rumor spread among the extortion collectors that Miguel was trying to steal from their money box. When Marcos heard the rumor, he and two accomplices approached Miguel. They opened fire on him, and Miguel died in the street, leaving behind a wife and three-year-old daughter.
Over the next 12 months, Marcos continued to evade arrest. Roaming from community to community around the city, he was linked to at least two more killings.
Working together, ASJ staff and Honduran officials were able to identify Marcos’s phone number and then use cellphone towers to triangulate his location based on the phone’s signal. They learned his routes and routines.
Finally, in April 2015, an opportune moment arrived for police and ASJ investigators. They moved in and successfully arrested Marcos.
ASJ’s staff proved crucial to ending Marcos’s 13-month stretch of violence in poor communities. Through this case and dozens of others, ASJ staff are building new bridges of trust between community members and Honduran law enforcement — leading to the police and justice officials actually serving and protecting poor Hondurans against violence and injustice.
Mending the Wounds
In ASJ’s efforts to do justice, we work alongside the brave family members of victims of violence — family members who want to end the cycles of violence that afflict their poor communities.
Part of ASJ’s work involves helping these family members to heal. Karen*, the widow of Miguel the shoe salesman, had to leave her home and take on a job with 10-hour shifts to care for her daughter. Tears well up in her eyes as Karen, 26, explains how she tries to stay strong in front of her daughter, who is now five years old.
Beneath her neat hair and careful makeup, Karen’s gaze conveys weariness and hurt. Despite the strong exterior she shows to her daughter, Karen explains through a strained voice that she has felt very lonely since her husband’s death.
ASJ psychologist, Melanie*, has been a tremendous help during this time, Karen said. She explained that there are certain things that she can’t even tell her family members but which she shares with Melanie. ASJ’s psychological support has been crucial in helping her to make it through the months since her husband’s death, Karen said.
Karen explained that she does have hope for the future and that her daughter, Rebeca*, helps keep that hope alive. Rebeca is spunky but also astute, in the way that children thrust into difficulty often are. Karen’s prayers for her daughter are simple; she prays for life and strength.
*Names changed to protect identities
ASJ-Canada and ASJ-US Congratulate the Honduran People, Call for Full and Transparent Results As sister organizations committed to justice, peace and hope in Honduras, ASJ-Canada and ASJ-US extend our deepest congratulations to the people of Honduras on the peaceful conduct of their national elections on November 30, 2025. With the initial tally showing an extraordinarily close vote, we call on election authorities to do what is necessary to ensure a transparent count of the remaining ballots in order to guarantee public trust in the final outcome. We commend the Honduran voters for their dedication to democratic participation and their commitment to shaping the future of their country through civic engagement. We also recognize the efforts of electoral authorities, civil society organizations, the international community and the thousands of volunteer observers who worked to ensure a transparent, orderly, and secure process. We are especially proud of our sister organization, ASJ-Honduras, for their unwavering commitment to democracy demonstrated through their electoral observation efforts, their analysis activities, and their consistent call for a fair and orderly process. Now that such a process has been achieved, the work turns to counting the votes with accuracy and transparency. The results remain close, increasing the possibility of a contested result. We support the work of the election officials at the National Electoral Council to give Hondurans confidence in the final results by conducting their count with rigor and transparency. We remain hopeful that the spirit of peaceful participation in the democratic process embraced by the electorate will carry forward into the post-election period to come. We look forward to continued collaboration with ASJ-Honduras as we all work together toward a just and hopeful future for all Hondurans. Matthew Van Geest President, Board of Directors ASJ-Canada Russ Jacobs President, Board of Directors ASJ-US
A call to action for Honduras
The Association for a More Justice Society-US Supports the Network to Defend Democracy; Calls for Free and Fair Elections in Honduras November 25, 2025
Honduras’s Institutional Crisis Deepens Ahead of the 2025 Elections
Dear friend, I couldn’t stop looking at the picture. Of course, there had been plenty of inspiring photos from this summer’s Prayer Walk for Peace and Democracy. The sea of blue and white rising and falling as hundreds of thousands walked the Honduran hills through Tegucigalpa, flowing like a never-ending stream. Catholic nuns praying their rosaries alongside Pentecostals dancing in the streets. But the picture that still knocks me flat is the closeup. The one of the two men standing side by side (picture enclosed). They are exhausted, and the shorter collapses into the taller. The tears mostly hold joy and relief, but they are mingled with something darker. After all, there had been threats—promises of harm done to themselves and their loved ones if they led their followers through the streets of Honduras in prayer. Despite the fear and intimidation, Pastor Gerardo Irías and Monsignor José Vicente Nácher forged ahead. They knew Honduras needed unity and, above all, prayer before the looming November 2025 presidential elections. As an ASJ supporter, you know that these kinds of threats aren’t out of the ordinary, and your support has helped slow and reverse violence in Honduras. Today, I am writing to share a way you can continue standing with brave Hondurans like Pastor Gerardo and Monsignor José in hope. The Evangelical pastor and the Catholic archbishop put the word out as widely as they could to their churches, hoping to mobilize 20,000 to walk and pray. Instead, an estimated 230,000 walked in the capital of Tegucigalpa alone. It was a historic moment. And without your past support for ASJ, it may have never happened. After all, two years prior, Pastor Gerardo and Monsignor José didn’t even know each other’s names. They first met in 2023 at ASJ’s offices. They were two of many civil society leaders convened by ASJ to discuss safeguarding democracy– especially before the election in 2025. It was at that meeting that they shook each other’s hand and learned each other’s name. It was at that meeting–and many subsequent meetings–where old religious prejudices began to be replaced by trust and mutual affection. So, when the moment came this summer to act, Pastor Gerardo and Monsignor José knew what they had to do. And they knew that they had to do it together.
Calvin alums turn faith into action through nonprofit
MESSAGE FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Thank You for Moving Forward With Us this Summer!
When Policies Shift, Families Pay the Price * by Jo Ann Van Engen
Inspiring civil society in the US with a vision of a more just society
