MS-13 gangsters used mountains around L.A. as killing grounds, prosecutors say

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Suspected MS-13 gang members in Los Angeles are charged with killing four people between 2017 and 2019 in remote areas of the San Gabriel and Santa Monica mountains.

Authorities say the gang used killings to evaluate new members, with extreme brutality drawing respect. One victim was stabbed 107 times; another was disemboweled.

Prosecutors allege some victims were targeted for trivial reasons, such as making unauthorized gang hand signs or simply sleeping in the wrong park.

The young men from MS-13 lived mostly in the cramped urban districts of Van Nuys, Panorama City and North Hollywood.

But it was in the mountains north and west of Los Angeles, where, as one alleged gang member