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Accused Border Patrol Serial Killer Who Wanted To 'Eradicate All The Prostitutes' To Face Trial
A former Navy corpsman who served with Ortiz said the accused killer seemed completely normal, and hid his "deep hatred of women" well.
The U.S. Border Patrol supervisor accused of killing at least four women and spewing vitriol towards sex workers will stand trial next week.
The trial for Juan David Ortiz, 35, will kick off in Texas’ 406th District Court next Thursday, a judge announced this week, Fox News reports.
The Loredo man, who worked for the Border Patrol for nearly a decade, has pleaded not guilty to four counts of capital murder.
He was arrested in September 2018, after allegedly going on a 10-day killing spree, targeting sex workers. All four victims were shot in the head and left for dead on a rural road. A fifth was injured but managed to escape. One of the victims was a transgender woman. Some of the victims were not American citizens.
Ortiz allegedly wished to "eradicate all the prostitutes,” as he allegedly told investigators during his confession and is accused of befriending his victims before killing them execution style, a USA Today story reported.
Author and former Navy corpsman Brandon Caro used to work with Ortiz, and told Oxygen.com this week that Ortiz “took duties very seriously and received high marks on his evaluations” while they both served in the Navy.
While in the Navy, Oritz received a Rifle Marksmanship Ribbon.
Caro said he was surprised to learn of Ortiz’ alleged crimes and noted he didn’t see any red flags. "He was not weird. He was not off," Caro said. "He was completely normal. In fact, I admired him. He was senior to me, and was a more experienced corpsman.”
However, Caro said it’s now clear that his “well liked” former coworker and friend had a “deep hatred of women.”
Caro said Ortiz wished him luck at Border Patrol when they last saw one another in 2009.
“He smiled and shook my hand,” Caro recalled. “‘Be good,’ he said.”
Ortiz joined the U.S. Customs and Border Protection that same year, and eventually elevated to intel supervisor. He’s accused of abusing that intel to monitor leads in the these specific murder investigators and dodge legal consequences, USA Today reported.
