Hannibal murder case prompts domestic violence, immigration questions

Police were told by federal authorities that Cazares was in the country illegally

Hannibal, MO — A Hannibal murder case is stirring debate about the rights of victims and suspects in domestic cases.

It’s also prompting questions about the boundary between immigration enforcement and racial profiling.

Thirty-two-year-old suspected illegal Mexican immigrant Manuel G. Cazares is charged with second-degree murder and armed criminal action in the stabbing deaths of his ex-girlfriend and another man.

The bodies of 27-year-old Amanda R. Thomas of Hannibal and 25-year-old Carl P. Epley of Monroe City were found Saturday morning in Thomas’ apartment at 12B Starlight Ridge in Hannibal.

Thomas’ two children, one of whom was fathered by the suspect, are safe and staying with family members.

Thomas’ mother, Jolene Schaubroeck, said Monday that authorities knew Cazares had a history of violence against her daughter and that more should have been done to keep the suspect away from her.

“He told her, ‘I’m going to kill us both,’” Schaubroeck remembers her daughter quoting Cazares. “I said, ‘If we don’t do something about this man, we’re going to have a big problem on our hands.’ She said, ‘Mom, I have no faith in the system.’”