Santa Muerte Case

The Santa Muerte Case is a police investigation in Season Five of the Showtime series DEXTER.

A series of murders were committed by two brothers who used Santa Muerte artifacts and rituals. Dexter Morgan had little involvement in this case.

It is the seventh major case in the series, with the previous major case being the Trinity Case and the next major case being the Barrel Girls Case.

Suspects

 * Francisco Alfaro - Initially suspected of killing his wife Nina with a machete and arranging the Santa Muerte artifacts and then killing himself. He was later exonerated when another victim, Fauzi Goberi, was found with his head chopped off.
 * The Fuentes Brothers - They were suspected of committing the murders based on DNA on a cigar found at the Fauzi Goberi murder crime scene. They were later confirmed as the killers when one of the brothers, Carlos, held a boy hostage and slit his throat with a machete.

History of Killers
The family of Carlos and Marco Fuentes were from Venezuela. Both men were involved in a history of drug trafficking. To pay for V.I.P. table service at Club Mayan, the brothers began to kill people for their ATM money Debra Morgan found them living in a run-down apartment house, with their rooms filled with Santa Muerte artifacts, At this point, the brothers went into hiding.

Detectives on Case
This is one of Debra Morgan's top priority cases. She has the assistance of several other officers:
 * Officer Cira Manzon - Assisted from the first killing, as a field officer she made crucial observations and offered her language skills to try and catch the Fuentes Brothers.
 * Detective Joey Quinn - Assisted in the later half of the investigation (Because he was hunting Dexter Morgan, he ended up suspended for the first half.)
 * Sergeant-Detective (then) Angel Batista - Assisted from the beginning, he ran an observatory role as well as supervisor that instructed lower level officers on the field. He watched from a security van outside during the Club Mayan stakeouts.
 * Lieutenant (then) Maria LaGuerta - Ran the political game regarding the whole Santa Muerte case. Unfortunately for her, it had a terrible fallout because of some of her poor decisions.

Other operatives involved in the case:
 * Forensics Specialist Vince Masuka - Working the bloody cases in Dexter's absence, he had to fill in for his role as the forensics specialist for the area. Dexter later arrived to give more feedback.
 * Forensic Blood Splatter Analyst Dexter Morgan - Was on leave for the first half of the case after his wife's murder, then he returned to give observations that ultimately put Carlos Fuentes and Marco Fuentes into the homicide divisions sights. He however never personally took interest in the Santa Muerte case, instead focusing on Lumen Pierce and the Barrel Girl Gang (before it eventually became known as the Barrel Girls Case).
 * Deputy-Chief Thomas Matthews - Appeared midway through the investigation to observe from the sidelines how LaGuerta would handle her problems...ultimately, he offered nothing but criticism for the whole situation.

Victims

 * Daniel Ortiz - One of the two first victims for the Fuentes brothers (and the fifth shown victim), he was seen making a frantic withdrawal from an ATM four weeks before police realized he was murdered. There were machete wounds, but none of the Santa Muerte relics were present that were found in the Mrs. Alfaro and Fauzi Goberi murders.
 * Awilda Ortiz - One of the two first victims for the Fuentes brothers (and the fourth shown victim), she was the wife of Daniel Ortese. There were machete wounds, the same as for her husband.
 * Nina Alfaro - The first shown victim, she was Francisco Alfaro's wife and was the first expert kill by the brothers. Her head was detached from her body, with both her eyes and tongue cut out and left on display among Santa Muerte relics. Her body was found in the bushes nearby.
 * Francisco Alfaro - The second shown victim and originally thought to be the suspect of a murder-suicide with his wife. However, this was not the case as found out later. His head had been blown to bits by a shotgun, likely by just one of the brothers.
 * Fauzi Goberi - The third shown victim, he was the only one who had talked to the police while alive. Unfortunately, he was then beheaded and ended up much like Mrs. Alfaro with his head on display near his decapitated body.
 * Yasmin Aragon - A young woman who was friends with the Fuentes brothers (although feared them). She worked as an informant for Miami Metro Homicide but got caught up in the gunfire at Club Mayan, becoming Marco Fuentes's victim.
 * Party-Goer that was killed during the shootout as a result of the bullets fired by Marco Fuentes.

Attempted Victims

 * Jandro Mendoza - An attempted victim, he was held hostage by Carlos Fuentes and had his neck slit...but survived.
 * Female Club-Goer held hostage by Carlos at Club Mayan.

Fallout from Case
During the Club Mayan Shooting, informant Yasmin Aragon, Carlos Fuentes, and an unnamed clubber were killed in the onslaught. Several other people were injured. The incident became a press nightmare. In trying to silence the case, LaGuerta pinned the poor decisions she made on Debra Morgan with Cira Manzon's assistance. The result was that Debra ended up in the file room with Cira assigned to Miami Metro Homicide.

Closure of Case
It is unknown if the case is officially closed because Marco, one of the Fuentes brothers, has not been apprehended.

Fate of Killers
Of the two killers, Carlos Fuentes was the only one to die. He faced off with Debra Morgan during the Club Mayan Shooting, threatening to kill a young woman. Debra shot him in the forehead, and he died instantly. (This correcting the mistake she made previously when a young man had his throat slit due to her reluctance to shoot Carlos.) His brother, Marco, escaped and continues to remain in hiding.

Related Pages

 * Awilda and Daniel Ortiz's House
 * Carlos Fuentes
 * Club Mayan
 * Club Mayan Shooting
 * Community Center Park
 * Fauzi Goberi
 * Fuentes Brothers
 * Jandro Mendoza
 * La Botanica
 * Marco Fuentes
 * Venezuelan Woman
 * Yasmin Aragon