Joaquin Barragan, 45, of Earlimart, California, was found dead on September 30, 2009, on the bank of Deer Creek canal just east of Earlimart. Ranchers working in the area discovered his body. Investigators quickly linked the killing to Jose Manuel Martinez, known as El Mano Negra, a confessed hitman who admitted to killing more than 35 men and who reportedly used tactics such as staged traffic stops or luring victims to isolated locations before shooting them.

Friends of Barragan told investigators Martinez had been actively searching for him and had made threats in the days before the killing, a detail that helped connect this death to Martinez’s wider pattern of violence. Martinez was later arrested, extradited from Alabama, and charged in multiple homicides across California; prosecutors pursued charges including murder, lying in wait, kidnapping, and murder for financial gain.

Are there anyone who knew Joaquin Barragan or who has information about his last days who can share what they remember?