MS-13’s ‘Salvadoran rules’ led gang to cut out man’s heart, feds say at L.A. trial

Federal prosecutors in Los Angeles are presenting evidence in a trial that alleges members of the MS-13 gang’s Fulton clique adopted strict “Salvadoran rules” in 2015, requiring aspiring members to commit murder to achieve full status. The trial, which began in May 2026, focuses on three brutal killings in the Angeles National Forest in 2017, including one where the victim’s heart was cut out with a machete.

Prosecutors say Angel Guzman, one of four defendants on trial for racketeering and violence, killed Juan Jose Sibrian on March 6, 2017. According to testimony, Guzman and others stabbed Sibrian 107 times, then sawed out his heart.

The victim was targeted because he was believed to have crossed out MS-13 graffiti and was addicted to methamphetamine, violating gang rules. The killing was reported to Edgar Velasquez, the clique’s shot caller, who allegedly promoted the participants for their extreme violence.

Defense attorneys argue the case relies on testimony from cooperating witnesses who are convicted murderers seeking leniency, and that there is no physical evidence linking their clients to the crimes. The trial is part of a larger 2019 indictment that charged nearly two dozen MS-13 members with a string of machete murders in the Angeles National Forest.

Five people were convicted last year of six killings.

The second killing occurred on April 20, 2017, when a victim identified as G.B. was allegedly killed because MS-13 believed he cooperated with law enforcement.

The third killing on June 4, 2017, involved Elvin Hernandez, who was killed for falsely claiming to be a gang member. Witnesses testified that the group tried to remove Hernandez’s head but failed because the machete was too dull.

Steven Dudley of InSight Crime noted that the adoption of Salvadoran rules represents a break from the gang’s historical U.S. operations, which avoided extreme violence to evade law enforcement attention.

The trial continues in downtown Los Angeles.