Police say two recent East County homicides are linked

Police say disputes over drugs caused a Woodburn man to reportedly hire hit men to murder two East County residents.

Portland police on Friday, July 14, arrested three suspects - Joel Sanchez-Jacobo, 29, of Woodburn; Gerardo Vasquez Villa-Gomez, 24, no address listed; and Jose Zamora-Camacho, 20, no address listed - for the May 31 and July 10 aggravated murders of two local men, said Sgt. Jeff Hansen, a Gresham police spokesman.

A grand jury on Monday, July 17, indicted each of the three suspects on charges of aggravated murder and conspiracy to commit aggravated murder.

Sanchez-Jacobo allegedly hired Villa-Gomez and Zamora-Camacho to kill two men - Rodolfo Romero-Lopez, 24, of Southeast Portland, and Alejandro Sanchez-Hernandez, 31, of Gresham - over drugs.

According to court document, Sanchez-Jacobo in mid May threatened to kill Romero-Lopez and another man who allegedly stole $4,000 worth of narcotics from Sanchez-Jacobo.

He also agreed to pay Villa-Gomez and Zamora-Camacho to kill Romero-Lopez.

A few weeks later, neighbors reported hearing multiple gunshots in an apartment complex in the 15600 block of Southeast Stark Street at 11:10 p.m. on May 31. Police found the body of Romero-Lopez in an outside entryway.

Then last week on July 10, the body of Hernando-Sanchez was found in a triplex in the 1100 block of Northeast 162nd Avenue.

Court documents indicate that Sanchez-Jacobo paid the two hit men to shoot Hernando-Sanchez due to an unpaid drug debt.

All three suspects are being held without bail in the Justice Center Jail.