SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Jurors in the capital homicide trial of a former U.S. Border Patrol agent have heard a taped interview in which he confesses to the 2018 killings of 4 intercourse employees in South Texas.
If convicted of capital homicide, Juan David Ortiz, 39, faces life in jail with out parole as a result of prosecutors should not looking for the dying penalty. The trial began on Nov. 28 and is ready to proceed on Monday.
Ortiz, a Navy veteran, was a Border Patrol intelligence supervisor on the time of his arrest in September 2018. Ortiz, who officers have mentioned wasn’t on obligation in the course of the killings and wore civilian garments, is accused of killing Melissa Ramirez, 29; Claudine Anne Luera, 42; Guiselda Alicia Cantu, 35; and Janelle Ortiz, 28.
Each girl was shot in the top and left alongside roads on the outskirts of Laredo in September. One died of blunt drive trauma after being shot.
Juan David Ortiz instructed detectives in the video performed in courtroom final week that as he drove alongside a stretch of street that the ladies frequented, “the monster would come out,” the San Antonio Express-News reported. He instructed investigators he needed to “clean up the streets,” and referred to the ladies as “trash” and “so dirty.”
Ortiz’s legal professional, Joel Perez, argued in opening statements that investigators had jumped to conclusions, and that his consumer’s confession was “coerced.” He mentioned his consumer was “broken” and “suicidal” when he made the confession and instructed investigators he’d had blackouts. Perez mentioned that Ortiz instructed the investigators that he was a conflict veteran who’d been experiencing post-traumatic stress dysfunction and was unable to sleep and was having nightmares. Perez mentioned Ortiz had been placed on “a bunch of psychotic pills.”
The ex-agent’s arrest was set in movement when a girl, Erika Pena, escaped from him when he pointed a gun at her whereas they have been in his truck at a fuel station on Sept. 14, 2018. Pena, now 31, testified that Ortiz would give her cash for medication, drive her to purchase them after which they’d have intercourse.
Normally, she mentioned, he was “nice, smart, funny, a normal guy,” however on Sept. 14, 2018, she obtained a nasty feeling after he instructed her he was the “next to last person” to have intercourse with Ramirez, who was discovered slain the week earlier. She testified that he was fearful investigators would discover his DNA.
“It made me think that he was the one who might have been murdering,” Pena instructed the jury.
Luera had been fatally shot on Sept. 13, 2018.
After Pena escaped, Ortiz fled from the fuel station however was later arrested when authorities tracked him to a lodge parking storage.
In the interview with investigators, Ortiz mentioned that after Ramirez had injected the medication he’s purchased for her, she’d handed out and that “angered” him. He mentioned that when she regained consciousness, she turned belligerent. Ortiz mentioned that when he stopped in order that she might use the restroom, he shot her in the again of the top.
Ortiz instructed investigators that after choosing up Luera and taking her to get “a fix,” he instructed her they need to take a look at the place Ramirez’s physique was discovered. He mentioned she “started freaking out.” She died at a hospital after being shot in the top.
Capt. Federico Calderon of the Webb County Sheriff’s Department testified that officers who arrested Ortiz knew in regards to the slayings of Ramirez and Luera, and whereas chasing him after Pena’s escape realized {that a} third physique — later recognized as that of Cantu — had been discovered.
Calderon mentioned it wasn’t till Ortiz’s confession that they realized a few fourth slain girl — later recognized as Janelle Ortiz.
Calderon instructed jurors that the information a few fourth sufferer was “volunteered” by Ortiz and “surprised us completely.”
Both Janelle Ortiz and Cantu have been killed in the hours earlier than Juan David Ortiz’s arrest.
Ortiz mentioned on the tape that he’d deliberate to kill himself that night time and that Cantu instructed him: “Don’t do it. God loves you.” Then, he mentioned, he shot her in the neck.
The trial is being held in San Antonio, in Bexar County, following a protection request to maneuver the trial from Webb County as a consequence of intensive media protection.
The Border Patrol positioned Ortiz on indefinite, unpaid suspension after his arrest. When requested final week for an replace on his present employment standing, a Border Patrol official mentioned the company doesn’t touch upon “pending litigation.”
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