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| U.S. Border Patrol agent Juan David Ortiz, who is accused of killing four women and kidnapping another, had "numerous" weapons in his home, authorities said. File Photo by Earl Cryer/UPI |
By Daniel Uria, UPI
A U.S. Border Patrol agent accused of killing four women and kidnapping a fifth had "numerous" weapons in his home, authorities said Monday.
Webb County Sheriff's Chief Deputy Federico Garza said 35-year-old Juan David Ortiz had a "full house of weapons" in Texas, which he intended to use in a confrontation with Department of Public Safety officers, NBC News reported.
"He had numerous, numerous weapons -- he was loading up all these weapons thinking that DPS was going to confront him and he was looking at a confrontation. Thank God that didn't happen," Garza said.
State troopers found Ortiz with a weapon in his vehicle on Sept. 15 and then proceeded to run to a hotel in the area where he hid under a truck and attempted to draw fire from the troopers.
"He was going to try to commit suicide by cop, he tried to use his phone to make it look like it was a weapon," Garza said. "It didn't happen, he was arrested without incident."
Police said Ortiz confessed to the killings and directed officers to the locations of the bodies. During interviews he also expressed disdain for Laredo's sex worker community and said he wanted to "eradicate all the prostitutes," Webb County Judge Tano Tijerina said, according to USA Today.
"It's difficult to get into the mind of a killer," Webb County District Attorney Isidro Alaniz said. "But what we have right now and what we do know is that Ortiz carried out these murders in a cold and callous way."
Authorities said he carried out the killings by befriending sex workers, shooting them execution-style and then disposing of their bodies in rural areas.
Three of the victims were identified as Melissa Ramirez, 29, Claudine Ann Luera, 42, and Humberto Ortiz, 28. All of them died between Sept. 3 and Sept. 15 and their bodies were found within miles of each other.
He was arrested after a woman he kidnapped escaped from his pickup truck and sought help from authorities.
The district attorney said Ortiz may have posted farewell messages on what they believed was his Facebook page after the escape.
Ortiz was jailed on Sunday with on $2.5 million bond, CBS News reported.
U.S. Border Patrol Chief Carla Provost said he has been placed on indefinite unpaid suspension.
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