Mission man accused in San Juan stash house murder indicted

Roberto Salas

A 36-year-old Mission man is scheduled to be arraigned Monday on an indictment charging him with murder and aggravated assault over a brutal beating murder at a San Juan stash house in May.

Roberto Salas, who was arrested in early October, remains jailed in the Hidalgo County Adult Detention Center on a total of $6,032,000 in bonds over the murder of Juan Carlos Hernandez de Leon, who went missing on May 6.

Samuel Uvalle Sr.

Jesus Grijalva

Authorities have also charged 48-year-old Mission resident Samuel Uvalle Sr. and 44-year-old San Juan resident Jesus Grijalva with murder.

During the investigation, witnesses told investigators that early on May 7 at approximately 4 a.m. Samuel Uvalle Sr. began to quarrel with Hernandez inside a residence at 1913 Morningset Road in San Juan.

“Samuel Uvalle (Sr.) started to assault Juan Carlos with a hammer,” a probable cause affidavit stated. “Roberto Salas and Jesus Grijalva joined Samuel Uvalle (Sr.) on the assault. Jesus Grijalva utilized a hammer tool to assault Juan Carlos.”

Investigators said the man died and the suspects put him in a barrel and buried him at a property in Edinburg.

While searching for the man, authorities developed information on May 15 that Grijalva used a tractor to bury something at 4610 E. Wisconsin Road in Edinburg, according to the affidavit.

After the sheriff’s office executed a search warrant, they found the man’s body.

As the investigation unfolded, federal authorities honed in on Samuel Uvalle Sr.’s son, Samuel Uvalle Jr., who was ultimately convicted on Sept. 20 on human smuggling charges related to the San Juan stash house.

Deputies and authorities with the United States Marshal Service had been conducting surveillance at the residence when six people in the country illegally walked out of the residence. They told investigators they heard a beating while at the residence and that Samuel Uvalle Sr. would threaten them, according to a federal criminal complaint.

Samuel Uvalle Jr. has since been sentenced to 1 1/2 years in federal prison. His projected release date is Aug. 26, 2025. His father was sentenced to nearly three years in prison on the federal smuggling charges.

Samuel Uvalle Sr., meanwhile, pleaded not guilty to the murder charge on Oct. 30.

He remains held in the county jail on a total of $5,125,000 in bonds. Grijalva remains held on a total of $1,220,000 in bonds and has pleaded not guilty to the murder charge.

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