EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) – A man charged with shooting prominent attorney Georgette Kaufmann allegedly harbored anti-Semitic thoughts and harbored a bizarre belief that the Memorial Park neighborhood was the epicenter of a supposed Satanic abortion ritual site, before attacking her home in Central El Paso last November.
Police arrested Joseph Angel Alvarez, 38, on one count of murder and another count of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in the 2020 murder of the attorney and shooting of her husband, Daniel Kaufmann. His bond is listed at a total of $2.5 million.
A suspect in the murder remained a mystery for nearly a year as police investigated what happened at Kaufmann’s house on Nov. 14, 2021. Police asked for assistance from the public and many pondered why a prominent attorney would be murdered in her home.
On Thursday, an affidavit released by the El Paso Police Department shed some light on who had allegedly killed Kaufmann and shot her husband.
The Night of Nov. 14
Police documents indicate Alvarez may have been parked in front of the Kaufmann’s neighbors’ house on Copper Avenue, the night of the murder. A witness who had been walking through the park told police she noticed a dark-colored SUV parked in front of the house with the lights flashing.
When the witness arrived home, a heavy police presence had formed on the street just moments after she told police she saw the vehicle.
Police believe Alvarez shot Kaufmann and shortly after entered the back of her home’s property where he tried to enter the house. The iron door was locked but Daniel Kaufmann ran to the door after hearing noises in the backyard, the affidavit states.
Kaufmann opened the inside door and saw the silhouette of a man, he told police. Shortly after, Alvarez allegedly fired a gun at the door striking Kaufmann several times and causing him to fall on his knees.
Kaufmann crawled to his bedroom and later ran out the front door of his home and went to his neighbor’s house across the street when 9-1-1 was dialed.
Police say they were able to trace Alvarez and pinpoint his location during the murder by using cell phone data from Google geofence and Sensorvault. The data provided police with ways to track who was in the area during the time of the murder and who was leaving.
Data show Alvarez’s cell phone had traveled down to Copia Avenue and Bisbee Avenue around 7:34 p.m. A search warrant was also obtained from Google for additional data about what Alvarez had been doing virtually.
Police found an email address associated with his phone number and traced his device near the Kaufmann’s home four days before the murder. It also helped reveal his residence in Central El Paso.
Satanic abortions and residences on supposed Copper Avenue
Police detailed messages and statements Alvarez allegedly made about his own beliefs and what may have been a motive for the attack on Nov. 14. Police found Alvarez emailed a military intelligence group hours before the attack at the Kaufmann’s house.
He had allegedly written a 22-page manifesto to the Army’s 902D Military Intelligence group claiming “pro-choice” individuals were the “Jewish Satanist Party,” according to the police affidavit. And, he had identified Memorial Park as a supposed “ritualistic satanic ground to conduct abortions by manner of magic.”
“(Alvarez) makes several references to Democrats being liars and calls for ‘No more Democrat Party Officials,'” the affidavit states. “(Alvarez) goes on to explain abortion is ‘Jewish child sacrifice.'”
Alvarez’s alleged manifesto seemed to fixate on four distinct houses on Copper Avenue, each of them backing up to Memorial Park. He became particularly obsessed with the corner house at Raynor Avenue and Copper — two doors to the West of the Kaufmann’s home.
He also allegedly wrote to the military intelligence unit that he intended to use a silenced pistol hidden in a pizza box to attack homes on four corners of Copper Avenue and Raynor Street. He claimed he would ring the doorbell of places with Joe Biden for President signs and LGBTQ flags.
In a neighborhood where many residents are active community members, attorneys, and business owners, political signs were not out of the norm. The Kaufmanns did have at least one political sign in their front yard, however, they were known to neighbors as typically supporting local Republican candidates. The home at the corner of Raynor Street and Copper Avenue, however, was displaying an LGBTQ flag on the night of the murder.
Police learned Alvarez had taken 21 photographs of the park, four of which, were near and of the garage where he allegedly killed Kaufmann.
“(Alvarez) authored emails detailing his extremist beliefs of ‘executing and exterminating the pro-choice Jewish Satan worshippers,’ the affidavit states. “(Alvarez’s) belief was ‘to end the Satanic activity’ near the crime scene (Memorial Park) and acted out his manifesto by killing and shooting the Kaufmanns, and by mentally fabricating the connection he believed the four corner houses on Raynor and Copper to have been involved in ‘satanic activity,’ because of their relative geographic location to the park.”
Alvarez allegedly stalked a woman at a previous employer, then stalked Copper Avenue homes
In their investigation, police learned Alvarez had been terminated from his job with General Aviation Terminal, Airline Ground Support. The business specializes in cargo handling and customer service.
Alvarez had allegedly frightened a female co-worker after he stalked her on a day off. Police interviewed Alvarez’s former co-workers who said he had learned the woman’s schedule and waited for her to arrive at work.
Once she arrived and parked, he aggressively approached her, police say.
“(Alvarez’s) behavior and approach were very similar to how Georgette Kaufmann was approached and murdered, exiting her vehicle and by the driver’s side door,” the affidavit states.
Police learned Alvarez’s actions had frightened the woman and she complained to management, which resulted in his termination. The police document also says Alvarez believed he was “treated indifferent,” at the job.
Former coworkers told police they believed he had owned a firearm or had access to them as he was a “gun enthusiast,” and knew a lot about them.
As KTSM previously reported, Kaufmann, 50, was an assistant attorney general in the Child Support Division in El Paso for seven years. Her autopsy report, conducted by the El Paso County Medical Examiner, found she was shot five times in her garage.
Police found her body laying outside of her vehicle with the motor still running and the door open. An autopsy report found she’d been shot twice in the chin, twice on the right side of her chest, and once in the right side of her back. The county medical examiner’s office also noted a blunt injury on her right cheek.
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