Police: Fatal stabbings at Avondale party were planned

The fatal stabbings Saturday night of two men at an Avondale party appear to have been a preplanned attack, investigators said Monday.

A joint news release from the New Garden Township Police Department and the Chester County District Attorney's Office said investigators were pursuing several motives for the murders of Cuahuctemoc Bedolla, 27, and Jose Rodriguez, 29, both of West Grove; however, the release did not elaborate.

New Garden Township police said officers responded to Jennersville Regional Hospital in West Grove at 11 p.m. Saturday on a report that Bedolla was critically injured from apparent knife wounds. He was flown to Christiana Hospital, where he was pronounced dead about an hour later.

After investigators learned that Bedolla had attended a party in the 1600 block of Baltimore Pike in Avondale with several friends, they visited the scene, a mixed residential-industrial area dominated by mushroom houses.

Witnesses told police a fight broke out after 10 p.m. among the attendees and some uninvited guests; during a search of nearby property, police found the body of Rodriguez.

Police, in a news release, said they had evidence that the attack was planned before the party.

No arrest warrants have been issued, the release said.

According to court records, both victims were known to police.

Bedolla was on probation after pleading guilty to drug charges in June 2010; he was paroled in July after serving a sentence of 30 days to a year in prison. In 2007, he pleaded guilty to a weapons charge, and his 2- to 23-month sentence included a provision that he avoid membership in any gang involved in criminal activity, court records said.

Rodriguez pleaded guilty in November 2006 to forgery and theft charges that resulted in a 3- to 23-month prison sentence. He also had two convictions for using a false ID in 2005 and 2006, as well as a guilty plea to indecent assault of a person younger than 16 that led to an 18-month to 5-year jail term in 2003, court records said.

Authorities have not concluded that the murders were gang-related; however, gang tensions have plagued the area periodically for more than a decade and led to the formation of a monthly regional information-gathering session of local, state, and federal law enforcement.

Investigators ask that anyone with information about the murders or the party call New Garden Township Police Sgt. Joseph Nangle at 610-268-2907, Ext. 100, or the Chester County Detectives at 610-344-6866.