1 00:00:10,000 --> 00:00:16,066 [country music playing] 2 00:00:19,900 --> 00:00:23,333 [Lt. Joe Kenda] Laredo is a border town in South Texas. 3 00:00:25,266 --> 00:00:29,166 It is the busiest crossing for commercial traffic 4 00:00:29,166 --> 00:00:31,233 on the Mexican border. 5 00:00:41,166 --> 00:00:42,767 Just outside the city limits, 6 00:00:42,767 --> 00:00:46,066 there is a rancher tending to a broken fence. 7 00:00:46,133 --> 00:00:50,066 [suspenseful music playing] 8 00:00:53,567 --> 00:00:56,867 And he notices a black pickup truck with tinted windows. 9 00:00:56,867 --> 00:00:59,367 [engine idling] 10 00:00:59,367 --> 00:01:02,967 It's on his property line, it's idling. 11 00:01:03,033 --> 00:01:05,734 And he wonders "What is that guy doing?" 12 00:01:12,767 --> 00:01:14,834 And then the truck pulls away. 13 00:01:16,700 --> 00:01:19,433 The rancher sees something on the ground. 14 00:01:19,767 --> 00:01:20,767 "What is that?" 15 00:01:22,367 --> 00:01:24,233 So he goes to investigate. 16 00:01:24,900 --> 00:01:28,166 [dramatic music playing] 17 00:01:30,066 --> 00:01:32,433 And he finds something horrible. 18 00:01:33,400 --> 00:01:35,467 [audio recording playing] 19 00:01:45,667 --> 00:01:48,233 Every homicide case starts with one. 20 00:01:48,700 --> 00:01:51,266 [camera shutter clicking] 21 00:01:51,266 --> 00:01:53,467 But it doesn't always end there. 22 00:01:53,467 --> 00:01:55,567 [camera shutter clicking] 23 00:01:56,266 --> 00:01:58,266 We had a serial killer in our midst. 24 00:01:58,266 --> 00:02:00,767 [dramatic music playing] 25 00:02:00,834 --> 00:02:02,333 [Alaniz] He's targeting these people. 26 00:02:03,900 --> 00:02:05,634 We didn't know what we were coming up against. 27 00:02:08,767 --> 00:02:11,467 He is not going to stop. 28 00:02:11,467 --> 00:02:14,166 -[ominous music] -[gun cocking] 29 00:02:14,233 --> 00:02:16,100 They're gonna have to stop him. 30 00:02:16,100 --> 00:02:18,533 -[officer 1] He's in here! -[officer 2] Look out! 31 00:02:20,266 --> 00:02:22,000 [officer] State police! 32 00:02:22,000 --> 00:02:24,967 [dramatic music playing] 33 00:02:24,967 --> 00:02:26,433 [officer] Hey, hey, hey, hey! 34 00:02:27,767 --> 00:02:29,567 [gunshot] 35 00:02:29,634 --> 00:02:32,467 [enthralling instrumental music playing] 36 00:02:32,467 --> 00:02:35,333 [Kenda] I spent my career closing murder cases. 37 00:02:37,300 --> 00:02:38,967 But I'm not the only one 38 00:02:39,033 --> 00:02:40,333 who answered the call. 39 00:02:42,266 --> 00:02:45,767 It takes a rare breed to solve the unsolvable, 40 00:02:46,667 --> 00:02:49,266 to catch a ruthless killer, 41 00:02:49,333 --> 00:02:51,967 and find justice for the dead. 42 00:02:53,567 --> 00:02:56,433 That's what it takes to be 43 00:02:56,867 --> 00:02:58,533 an American Detective. 44 00:03:04,367 --> 00:03:07,266 I'm Captain Federico Calderon from the Webb County Sheriff's office. 45 00:03:08,266 --> 00:03:10,266 I've been working for the Sheriff's office 46 00:03:10,266 --> 00:03:12,266 for about, almost 18-and-a-half years. 47 00:03:12,266 --> 00:03:13,367 [camera shutter clicks] 48 00:03:13,367 --> 00:03:15,567 I started off as a patrol deputy 49 00:03:15,567 --> 00:03:17,367 and worked my way through investigations 50 00:03:17,367 --> 00:03:20,667 and eventually, became an investigation supervisor. 51 00:03:20,667 --> 00:03:21,667 [camera shutter clicks] 52 00:03:21,667 --> 00:03:24,467 [Kenda] Supervision requires an overview 53 00:03:24,467 --> 00:03:27,166 that detectives don't have to have. 54 00:03:27,166 --> 00:03:29,667 Their commander is pursuing everything. 55 00:03:29,667 --> 00:03:32,867 If you do it correctly, it consumes you. 56 00:03:33,467 --> 00:03:35,867 Calderon is consumed by it. 57 00:03:36,900 --> 00:03:38,233 Just like I was. 58 00:03:39,567 --> 00:03:40,767 [dog barking] 59 00:03:40,834 --> 00:03:43,266 [Calderon] I'm on my way right now, getting in the car. 60 00:03:43,333 --> 00:03:46,467 The call came in on a holiday so I wasn't at work. 61 00:03:46,467 --> 00:03:49,967 But being a supervisor for investigations, 62 00:03:50,033 --> 00:03:51,333 you're always working. 63 00:03:52,367 --> 00:03:53,667 [engine starts] 64 00:03:53,667 --> 00:03:56,934 To play the game, you've gotta be in the game. 65 00:04:00,900 --> 00:04:02,667 Sitting behind a desk, 66 00:04:02,734 --> 00:04:04,166 you're not gonna learn anything. 67 00:04:04,767 --> 00:04:06,834 Get out there where the action is. 68 00:04:12,300 --> 00:04:14,467 The crime scene, this is an area 69 00:04:14,467 --> 00:04:18,567 which is a sort of a farm road that only the residents 70 00:04:18,567 --> 00:04:21,066 that live out there would be traveling on. 71 00:04:24,100 --> 00:04:26,667 [camera shutter clicks] 72 00:04:26,734 --> 00:04:29,767 It's not a place you would be expected to get called to, 73 00:04:29,834 --> 00:04:32,233 for a crime scene, for a potential murder. 74 00:04:33,467 --> 00:04:35,533 [dispatch speaking indistinctly on radio] 75 00:04:36,500 --> 00:04:37,767 -[camera shutter clicks] -[ominous music] 76 00:04:37,767 --> 00:04:40,133 [Calderon] The victim was lying face down. 77 00:04:40,567 --> 00:04:42,266 What do we got? 78 00:04:42,266 --> 00:04:45,266 [officer] It's a female. No ID. 79 00:04:46,100 --> 00:04:48,166 There was very obvious head trauma. 80 00:04:48,166 --> 00:04:50,967 So she was a little bit harder to identify. 81 00:04:51,967 --> 00:04:54,667 Calderon has the same problem anyone does 82 00:04:54,734 --> 00:04:56,867 looking at a gunshot wound to the head of the female. 83 00:04:56,867 --> 00:04:58,533 It's just a mass of blood. 84 00:05:02,467 --> 00:05:04,567 You can't tell where the hit was 85 00:05:04,567 --> 00:05:07,867 or whether it was front-to-back or back-to-front. 86 00:05:07,934 --> 00:05:10,066 You can't tell. Until you get 'em in a morgue. 87 00:05:12,166 --> 00:05:14,567 There was something very unique in this case 88 00:05:14,634 --> 00:05:17,266 that the victim, uh, was clenching 89 00:05:17,266 --> 00:05:20,567 a bag of candy in their hand. 90 00:05:20,567 --> 00:05:23,367 It is often referred to as the death grip. 91 00:05:23,367 --> 00:05:24,467 [camera shutter clicks] 92 00:05:24,467 --> 00:05:26,667 But in reality, it's all the muscles 93 00:05:26,667 --> 00:05:29,667 exerting themselves at the same instant. 94 00:05:29,734 --> 00:05:30,867 [camera shutter clicks] 95 00:05:30,867 --> 00:05:33,667 'Cause the nervous system has been disconnected 96 00:05:33,667 --> 00:05:34,967 from the brain. 97 00:05:35,033 --> 00:05:38,734 So they have this grip that cannot be broken. 98 00:05:42,667 --> 00:05:44,867 Also at the crime scene 99 00:05:44,867 --> 00:05:47,667 are three expended casings 100 00:05:47,667 --> 00:05:50,000 from a semi-automatic pistol. 101 00:05:50,000 --> 00:05:53,066 The shell casings, they weren't the steel case 102 00:05:53,133 --> 00:05:54,266 or the aluminum case. 103 00:05:54,333 --> 00:05:57,834 It's a premium brass cartridge. It stood out. 104 00:05:58,367 --> 00:06:01,567 They're 40 caliber. 40 S&W. 105 00:06:01,567 --> 00:06:03,767 That caliber is so effective, 106 00:06:03,767 --> 00:06:08,266 it is commonly used by law enforcement and by federal agents. 107 00:06:08,333 --> 00:06:09,266 [camera shutter clicks] 108 00:06:09,266 --> 00:06:11,066 It is the kind of ammunition 109 00:06:11,066 --> 00:06:15,066 that an average street criminal wouldn't even consider obtaining 110 00:06:15,567 --> 00:06:17,367 because it's expensive. 111 00:06:17,367 --> 00:06:19,867 So it says to Calderon, 112 00:06:19,934 --> 00:06:22,867 whoever this is knows guns. 113 00:06:22,934 --> 00:06:24,867 [dispatch speaking indistinctly on radio] 114 00:06:24,867 --> 00:06:26,367 [Calderon] Good afternoon, sir. 115 00:06:26,433 --> 00:06:28,967 [Kenda] So the next step of course is to speak to the person 116 00:06:28,967 --> 00:06:30,667 who found the remains. 117 00:06:30,667 --> 00:06:33,767 So Calderon questions the rancher. 118 00:06:33,834 --> 00:06:36,066 [Calderon] He said that he saw a vehicle 119 00:06:36,133 --> 00:06:38,767 driving around the ranch road 120 00:06:38,767 --> 00:06:41,467 and he assumed that that truck 121 00:06:41,533 --> 00:06:43,634 played a role in whatever was happening there. 122 00:06:44,767 --> 00:06:46,667 [rancher] I didn't see her right away 123 00:06:46,667 --> 00:06:48,367 but I did get a license plate number. 124 00:06:49,500 --> 00:06:52,634 That is a remarkable fact that never happens. 125 00:06:54,066 --> 00:06:57,233 Witnesses normally can't tell you what color the car was. 126 00:06:57,900 --> 00:06:59,266 This guy is descriptive. 127 00:06:59,333 --> 00:07:02,867 He says a black pickup with heavily tinted windows, 128 00:07:02,934 --> 00:07:06,066 relatively new, nice condition, clean, 129 00:07:06,066 --> 00:07:09,066 and this is the plate number. Texas plates. 130 00:07:09,133 --> 00:07:11,433 Well, that's a great witness. 131 00:07:12,300 --> 00:07:14,066 [Calderon] Thank you so much for your time today. 132 00:07:14,133 --> 00:07:16,266 [Kenda] Calderon's next step is to go to the morgue 133 00:07:16,333 --> 00:07:18,133 and see exactly what we're looking for. 134 00:07:21,767 --> 00:07:23,367 [Calderon] Autopsies are so important. 135 00:07:23,367 --> 00:07:27,066 They give us a window into the final moments of that person's life, 136 00:07:27,133 --> 00:07:30,266 and they tell us how and why that person died. 137 00:07:30,266 --> 00:07:34,000 They're able to clearly see that she three gunshot wounds to the head... 138 00:07:34,000 --> 00:07:37,166 [clicking] 139 00:07:37,233 --> 00:07:40,634 ...administered close range, less than 18 inches. 140 00:07:41,867 --> 00:07:45,066 And further, a gunshot wound to the wrist. 141 00:07:48,266 --> 00:07:52,567 If you think about watching someone eating a bag of M&M's, 142 00:07:52,567 --> 00:07:54,967 they often hold it in their hand. 143 00:07:54,967 --> 00:07:58,533 And they raise it to their mouth and dump in a few M&Ms. 144 00:07:59,467 --> 00:08:01,767 When she takes those rounds, 145 00:08:01,767 --> 00:08:05,066 one of 'em exits her head and goes through her wrist. 146 00:08:06,300 --> 00:08:09,000 And that's why she's got that bag in her hand. 147 00:08:09,000 --> 00:08:11,467 She was eating M&Ms 148 00:08:11,467 --> 00:08:14,266 when she's executed by somebody. 149 00:08:14,266 --> 00:08:16,233 She didn't expect what was coming. 150 00:08:21,900 --> 00:08:24,066 [Kenda] So Calderon asks the coroner, 151 00:08:24,133 --> 00:08:25,934 "What else can you tell me about this girl?" 152 00:08:27,166 --> 00:08:30,967 [Calderon] There was a toxicology screen done by the doctor 153 00:08:30,967 --> 00:08:33,533 and it did come back to narcotics. 154 00:08:34,266 --> 00:08:36,066 We ran her fingerprints 155 00:08:36,500 --> 00:08:38,066 and she was identified. 156 00:08:38,867 --> 00:08:40,667 Our victim was Melissa Ramirez. 157 00:08:40,667 --> 00:08:41,867 [camera shutter clicks] 158 00:08:41,934 --> 00:08:44,667 She is somebody who our investigators 159 00:08:44,734 --> 00:08:46,767 and our jail staff was familiar with. 160 00:08:46,834 --> 00:08:49,066 She was a habitual drug user 161 00:08:49,066 --> 00:08:52,467 who was involved in prostitution as well. 162 00:08:52,467 --> 00:08:55,000 [Alaniz] So now, it was gonna be a challenge for law enforcement 163 00:08:55,000 --> 00:08:57,467 trying to find who did this. 164 00:08:57,533 --> 00:08:59,667 Right? Given the work she did. 165 00:08:59,734 --> 00:09:01,467 She's the perfect victim. 166 00:09:02,767 --> 00:09:04,667 [Kenda] There are people in the world 167 00:09:04,667 --> 00:09:07,266 who prey upon sex workers 168 00:09:07,266 --> 00:09:09,867 because they're easily obtained. 169 00:09:09,867 --> 00:09:12,567 You don't have to force your victim into the car. 170 00:09:13,000 --> 00:09:14,467 They just get in. 171 00:09:14,533 --> 00:09:17,967 So your suspect pool has grown well beyond 172 00:09:17,967 --> 00:09:20,166 associates and known persons. 173 00:09:23,867 --> 00:09:27,433 But Calderon has something going for him in this case. 174 00:09:28,367 --> 00:09:30,967 He's got a license plate of a truck 175 00:09:31,033 --> 00:09:33,834 that was inches away from this dead body. 176 00:09:34,800 --> 00:09:36,967 [Calderon] The plan was to identify that vehicle 177 00:09:36,967 --> 00:09:38,834 and track down the owner of the truck. 178 00:09:40,400 --> 00:09:41,634 [Kenda] They run the plate 179 00:09:42,400 --> 00:09:46,066 and Calderon is speechless. 180 00:09:46,133 --> 00:09:49,333 The registration comes back to a local police officer, 181 00:09:50,100 --> 00:09:52,266 Gustavo Lopez. 182 00:09:52,333 --> 00:09:54,266 That's who owns the truck. 183 00:09:54,333 --> 00:09:56,667 Good God. How could this be? 184 00:09:56,734 --> 00:10:00,100 What is he up to next to this body? 185 00:10:00,100 --> 00:10:02,634 [dramatic music playing] 186 00:10:07,800 --> 00:10:09,667 [Kenda] Calderon has a suspect 187 00:10:09,667 --> 00:10:13,867 who is a police officer named Gustavo Lopez. 188 00:10:13,867 --> 00:10:16,166 He looks into his history with the department 189 00:10:16,166 --> 00:10:19,066 and finds some things that are rather questionable. 190 00:10:20,667 --> 00:10:24,467 Lopez tends to be aggressive with the public. 191 00:10:24,467 --> 00:10:27,567 A number of complaints had been received about him, 192 00:10:27,634 --> 00:10:29,467 and one was so serious, 193 00:10:29,533 --> 00:10:31,133 he was placed on probation. 194 00:10:32,700 --> 00:10:35,467 That was a little bit concerning 195 00:10:35,533 --> 00:10:37,333 considering the circumstances. 196 00:10:39,166 --> 00:10:42,066 Let's have a conversation, Gustavo, 197 00:10:42,133 --> 00:10:44,233 and see what you have to say. 198 00:10:47,300 --> 00:10:50,467 You question a police officer the same way you question anyone else. 199 00:10:51,100 --> 00:10:53,266 There is no professional courtesy. 200 00:10:53,266 --> 00:10:55,667 Particularly when you're considered a suspect. 201 00:10:55,734 --> 00:10:58,934 And Calderon has a very good reason to believe he is. 202 00:10:59,967 --> 00:11:02,567 By the time we got around to talking to him, 203 00:11:02,567 --> 00:11:06,266 he knew what we were looking for him in reference to. 204 00:11:06,333 --> 00:11:08,667 There's a piece of property that I was gonna buy. 205 00:11:09,000 --> 00:11:10,266 [Calderon] Okay. 206 00:11:10,266 --> 00:11:13,567 He said, "I took my two kids with me out to that spot. 207 00:11:13,634 --> 00:11:16,567 To show them a piece of ground I was thinking about buying, 208 00:11:16,634 --> 00:11:18,467 to see what the view would be like. 209 00:11:18,467 --> 00:11:20,834 What body are you talking about?" 210 00:11:22,567 --> 00:11:25,000 The body, it was not hidden. 211 00:11:25,000 --> 00:11:27,066 And it was not hard to see. 212 00:11:28,767 --> 00:11:30,567 The idea that a law enforcement officer 213 00:11:30,634 --> 00:11:33,533 would have completely not seen that... 214 00:11:36,667 --> 00:11:39,734 was difficult to... to work around. 215 00:11:42,867 --> 00:11:46,166 [Kenda] But Calderon checks with the real estate company 216 00:11:46,166 --> 00:11:50,367 and confirms that Lopez has been in contact with them for weeks 217 00:11:50,433 --> 00:11:52,000 about the piece of ground 218 00:11:52,000 --> 00:11:54,934 adjacent to the eyewitness' property. 219 00:11:56,700 --> 00:11:58,000 -[door squeaks] -Go ahead. 220 00:11:58,000 --> 00:12:00,367 [Calderon] I generally don't believe in coincidences. 221 00:12:00,367 --> 00:12:02,467 But at the end of the day, 222 00:12:02,467 --> 00:12:04,266 we didn't have anything on him 223 00:12:04,266 --> 00:12:08,834 to continue with him being a lead suspect. 224 00:12:11,300 --> 00:12:14,467 [upbeat music playing] 225 00:12:15,266 --> 00:12:17,367 I think, in general, 226 00:12:17,433 --> 00:12:21,000 criminal investigations can feel overwhelming. 227 00:12:21,000 --> 00:12:23,166 You have to develop your own information. 228 00:12:23,166 --> 00:12:25,367 And you have to go out there and talk to family members. 229 00:12:28,367 --> 00:12:31,767 Nobody likes it. It's ugly. It's nasty. 230 00:12:31,834 --> 00:12:34,266 But you're the boss. It's your responsibility. 231 00:12:34,266 --> 00:12:36,533 Take the responsibility and go deal with it. 232 00:12:39,266 --> 00:12:43,667 [Maria speaking in Spanish] 233 00:13:09,867 --> 00:13:11,867 [Calderon] We talked to Melissa's mom. 234 00:13:11,867 --> 00:13:15,367 She was hurting, you know, emotionally and physically. 235 00:13:15,433 --> 00:13:18,934 Um, but she gave us a lot of good information about Melissa. 236 00:13:20,166 --> 00:13:24,467 [Maria speaking in Spanish] 237 00:13:39,300 --> 00:13:42,166 She would always have, like, this good attitude always 238 00:13:42,166 --> 00:13:45,667 and always a happy and good feeling 239 00:13:45,734 --> 00:13:47,467 whenever we were together. 240 00:13:47,467 --> 00:13:50,367 [Erika Quiroz] Oh, my God, she had a really particular laugh. 241 00:13:50,367 --> 00:13:52,166 Even if somebody would get mad at her, 242 00:13:52,233 --> 00:13:55,567 she'd say something so you can laugh at it and be like... 243 00:13:55,634 --> 00:13:56,834 You can't get mad at her. 244 00:13:58,266 --> 00:13:59,767 She did have two children. 245 00:13:59,767 --> 00:14:01,367 She was the best mother. 246 00:14:01,367 --> 00:14:05,667 She made sure those kids had a good family and a good place for them. 247 00:14:05,667 --> 00:14:07,166 She loved her kids a lot. 248 00:14:10,200 --> 00:14:12,266 [speaking Spanish] 249 00:14:22,600 --> 00:14:23,867 [camera shutter clicks] 250 00:14:23,867 --> 00:14:27,266 [Kenda] She has an arrest 10 years ago for prostitution. 251 00:14:27,266 --> 00:14:30,867 She's also addicted to narcotics. 252 00:14:30,934 --> 00:14:33,867 [Gracie] She would always keep her things to herself. 253 00:14:33,934 --> 00:14:35,867 It was really quite difficult for us 254 00:14:35,867 --> 00:14:39,567 to help her, to see what was really wrong with her. 255 00:14:39,567 --> 00:14:42,967 [Kenda] Many sex workers have a story that begins 256 00:14:42,967 --> 00:14:45,667 when they become involved in narcotics. 257 00:14:45,667 --> 00:14:47,266 They need money. 258 00:14:47,333 --> 00:14:50,634 The only thing left for them is to sell their own body. 259 00:14:51,967 --> 00:14:54,266 [Gracie] The last time I saw her, 260 00:14:54,266 --> 00:14:56,667 I was there at my mother-in-law's house 261 00:14:56,667 --> 00:15:00,166 and, uh, she wanted to confess something 262 00:15:00,166 --> 00:15:01,767 but she didn't know how to say it. 263 00:15:04,000 --> 00:15:07,166 [Maria speaking Spanish] 264 00:15:26,166 --> 00:15:28,767 [Kenda] There's this constant drumbeat of violence 265 00:15:28,834 --> 00:15:31,867 that's always on the edges of being a sex worker. 266 00:15:32,567 --> 00:15:35,734 You are at risk all the time. 267 00:15:36,467 --> 00:15:39,333 [dramatic music playing] 268 00:15:43,200 --> 00:15:46,467 So Calderon gets a lot of information about Melissa 269 00:15:46,467 --> 00:15:50,367 but what he doesn't get is a solid lead on a possible suspect. 270 00:15:52,767 --> 00:15:56,767 So in the lack of any leads or evidence, 271 00:15:56,767 --> 00:15:58,634 uh, we had to develop our own. 272 00:16:01,500 --> 00:16:03,467 So like any good detective, 273 00:16:03,467 --> 00:16:06,867 uh, Fed Calderon went to the source. 274 00:16:06,867 --> 00:16:09,467 He wanted to get down to where Melissa was working. 275 00:16:11,567 --> 00:16:13,967 [Calderon] There's a stretch of road, San Bernardo. 276 00:16:14,033 --> 00:16:17,000 It's in an older part of town, a bit more run-down. 277 00:16:17,000 --> 00:16:19,266 It's known for the area 278 00:16:19,266 --> 00:16:21,133 that the prostitutes frequent. 279 00:16:21,667 --> 00:16:24,634 [upbeat music playing] 280 00:16:25,867 --> 00:16:29,266 Everybody knows if you drive around San Bernardo late night, 281 00:16:29,266 --> 00:16:31,834 you're gonna see people picking up people. 282 00:16:35,767 --> 00:16:37,967 [Kenda] Calderon wants to speak to the girls 283 00:16:38,033 --> 00:16:40,166 to see if anybody knows Melissa, 284 00:16:40,166 --> 00:16:42,166 to see who she hangs out with. 285 00:16:42,233 --> 00:16:45,367 Did anybody see her go with anybody? 286 00:16:45,433 --> 00:16:48,934 It was like they say, old-fashioned police work. It was exactly that. 287 00:16:49,767 --> 00:16:52,367 Driving up the streets, walking up and down, 288 00:16:52,367 --> 00:16:53,734 trying to talk to these people. 289 00:16:56,567 --> 00:16:59,266 Even though for the most part we're plainclothes, 290 00:16:59,266 --> 00:17:01,266 we still looked like cops. 291 00:17:01,266 --> 00:17:04,967 -Nothing you can really tell me about that? -No, not just her. 292 00:17:04,967 --> 00:17:07,333 It's last type of person they want to talk to. 293 00:17:07,700 --> 00:17:09,233 Oh, hey. 294 00:17:10,500 --> 00:17:13,233 They know who the cops are. 295 00:17:14,100 --> 00:17:15,233 They can feel it. 296 00:17:16,300 --> 00:17:18,767 -[speaking indistinctly] -What part of town? 297 00:17:18,767 --> 00:17:22,567 After we explain we're investigating a crime that happened to somebody 298 00:17:22,567 --> 00:17:24,367 who was potentially in their same shoes, 299 00:17:24,433 --> 00:17:25,867 some people chose to talk to us. 300 00:17:28,700 --> 00:17:31,066 Through one of the field interviews, 301 00:17:31,133 --> 00:17:33,066 the name Claudine Luera came up. 302 00:17:33,133 --> 00:17:33,967 [camera shutter clicks] 303 00:17:33,967 --> 00:17:35,767 [Marissa] She was a sex worker. 304 00:17:35,767 --> 00:17:40,100 The same situation of Melissa. 305 00:17:40,100 --> 00:17:42,000 That she has addictions. 306 00:17:42,000 --> 00:17:43,767 They were really good friends. 307 00:17:43,767 --> 00:17:48,066 They work in the same area in San Bernardo. 308 00:17:48,133 --> 00:17:52,066 Which means she could be an eyewitness to who picked up Melissa 309 00:17:52,133 --> 00:17:53,667 the night she was killed. 310 00:17:53,667 --> 00:17:56,066 [Calderon] So we attempted to 311 00:17:56,133 --> 00:17:58,734 ask around, "Where is she?" "Where can we find her?" 312 00:18:00,567 --> 00:18:02,767 [Kenda] But Calderon has no luck. 313 00:18:02,834 --> 00:18:05,333 No one seems to know where Claudine is. 314 00:18:11,300 --> 00:18:13,567 But he does come up with a few names 315 00:18:13,567 --> 00:18:17,166 of male customers who're relatively well-known 316 00:18:17,166 --> 00:18:20,934 among the prostitute crowd on San Bernardo Avenue. 317 00:18:21,867 --> 00:18:23,767 So he gathers up these names, 318 00:18:23,767 --> 00:18:26,767 gets associated license plate numbers 319 00:18:26,767 --> 00:18:28,467 and he has a plan in mind. 320 00:18:28,467 --> 00:18:31,834 His plan includes the United States Border Patrol. 321 00:18:38,700 --> 00:18:41,867 [Calderon] They have, you know, assets that read license plates, 322 00:18:41,934 --> 00:18:44,667 and they have databases with unique information 323 00:18:44,667 --> 00:18:48,367 that may not be the same information we have or that the State does. 324 00:18:49,700 --> 00:18:51,767 [Kenda] It literally can track 325 00:18:51,834 --> 00:18:54,166 every car and where it moves 326 00:18:54,700 --> 00:18:56,667 in a 30-square-mile area 327 00:18:56,667 --> 00:18:59,266 around the city of Laredo, Texas. 328 00:18:59,333 --> 00:19:02,066 So this system is quite sophisticated. 329 00:19:02,066 --> 00:19:05,367 Calderon is gonna provide the list of individuals 330 00:19:05,433 --> 00:19:08,266 through special agent Juan David Ortiz 331 00:19:08,266 --> 00:19:09,567 who's a supervisor 332 00:19:09,567 --> 00:19:12,533 in the surveillance system controlled by the Border Patrol. 333 00:19:16,000 --> 00:19:17,967 We gave them these names and I said, 334 00:19:17,967 --> 00:19:19,467 "See what you can come up with on them." 335 00:19:19,467 --> 00:19:22,467 [captivating instrumental music playing] 336 00:19:22,467 --> 00:19:25,567 Could be previous criminal history 337 00:19:25,634 --> 00:19:27,166 that's strictly federal-related, 338 00:19:27,233 --> 00:19:29,467 whether it be a license plate crossing 339 00:19:29,467 --> 00:19:32,867 or... who was inside the vehicle with them 340 00:19:32,934 --> 00:19:34,166 when they went through at the checkpoint 341 00:19:34,166 --> 00:19:36,166 or through the bridge or something. You know, you never know. 342 00:19:39,100 --> 00:19:42,834 They search the system for the plate numbers and the individual names. 343 00:19:48,200 --> 00:19:49,533 And they get no result. 344 00:19:51,800 --> 00:19:53,967 [dramatic music playing] 345 00:19:53,967 --> 00:19:55,667 [Kenda] But at the end of the day, 346 00:19:55,667 --> 00:19:58,834 an officer who works the San Bernardo Avenue area 347 00:19:59,100 --> 00:20:00,834 calls Calderon 348 00:20:02,767 --> 00:20:05,867 and says, "I have this guy. 349 00:20:05,934 --> 00:20:08,667 He was seen with Melissa Ramirez 350 00:20:08,734 --> 00:20:10,567 on the night she disappeared. 351 00:20:10,634 --> 00:20:13,367 And his name is Dominic Ortega." 352 00:20:13,367 --> 00:20:16,133 Now that's really interesting information. 353 00:20:17,967 --> 00:20:20,166 He said that sometimes she'd go to his house. 354 00:20:20,166 --> 00:20:22,967 So we felt like he was definitely 355 00:20:22,967 --> 00:20:24,767 a lead we had to go after. 356 00:20:24,767 --> 00:20:27,734 [pensive music playing] 357 00:20:29,266 --> 00:20:32,467 And when Calderon types his name into the police database... 358 00:20:32,467 --> 00:20:34,166 [music increases in tempo] 359 00:20:34,233 --> 00:20:36,567 things get really interesting. 360 00:20:36,634 --> 00:20:39,266 Mr. Ortega lives less than a mile 361 00:20:39,333 --> 00:20:41,433 from where Melissa's body was found. 362 00:20:42,166 --> 00:20:44,066 [camera shutter clicks] 363 00:20:44,133 --> 00:20:46,934 Well, Mr. Ortega, you could be the one. 364 00:20:50,300 --> 00:20:52,867 [pensive music playing] 365 00:20:52,867 --> 00:20:56,467 [Kenda] So Captain Calderon receives a tip about a client 366 00:20:56,533 --> 00:20:58,000 of Melissa Ramirez 367 00:20:58,000 --> 00:21:00,100 named Dominic Ortega. 368 00:21:00,100 --> 00:21:02,967 He lived around the same part of town 369 00:21:03,033 --> 00:21:04,367 where the body was discovered. 370 00:21:04,867 --> 00:21:07,667 [dramatic music playing] 371 00:21:11,467 --> 00:21:13,767 [Kenda] Calderon goes to speak to Ortega 372 00:21:13,767 --> 00:21:15,467 where his job is... 373 00:21:15,467 --> 00:21:18,467 -Dominic Ortega? -What's this about? 374 00:21:18,467 --> 00:21:21,367 ...and discovers the encounter to be rather confrontive. 375 00:21:21,367 --> 00:21:24,667 We have reason to believe that you were with Melissa the night she disappeared. 376 00:21:25,667 --> 00:21:28,767 But when Calderon tells him that Melissa Ramirez 377 00:21:28,767 --> 00:21:30,033 has been murdered, 378 00:21:32,467 --> 00:21:35,166 he changes his attitude completely. 379 00:21:35,233 --> 00:21:36,467 [Calderon] He said they weren't strangers. 380 00:21:36,467 --> 00:21:38,000 He had picked her up before. 381 00:21:38,000 --> 00:21:39,266 She had been to his house. 382 00:21:39,266 --> 00:21:42,367 He's not only a regular customer of Melissa's. 383 00:21:42,367 --> 00:21:44,033 He's also her friend. 384 00:21:45,367 --> 00:21:47,467 Can you tell us about that night? 385 00:21:47,533 --> 00:21:51,266 [Kenda] Ortega explains that he picked her up on a date. 386 00:21:52,266 --> 00:21:54,767 And they went back to his house 387 00:21:54,767 --> 00:21:56,166 and she got high. 388 00:21:56,233 --> 00:21:57,667 And then she passed out. 389 00:21:57,667 --> 00:22:00,266 He obviously hired her for a different reason. 390 00:22:02,767 --> 00:22:05,667 [Kenda] Finally she woke up, and by this moment, 391 00:22:05,667 --> 00:22:08,066 Dominic Ortega had changed his mind. 392 00:22:08,133 --> 00:22:09,867 He just took her home. 393 00:22:09,867 --> 00:22:11,533 That's the last time he ever saw her. 394 00:22:12,700 --> 00:22:14,767 [Calderon] He was 100% cooperative 395 00:22:14,767 --> 00:22:17,166 and we had information from his employer that 396 00:22:17,166 --> 00:22:19,367 he was at a distant location. 397 00:22:19,367 --> 00:22:21,867 So we felt that it was very unlikely 398 00:22:21,934 --> 00:22:24,233 that this was a person who had committed a crime. 399 00:22:29,100 --> 00:22:30,667 [Kenda] Over the next few days, 400 00:22:30,734 --> 00:22:33,667 Calderon feeds a few more names and license plates 401 00:22:33,734 --> 00:22:35,867 to Agent Ortiz of the Border Patrol. 402 00:22:35,867 --> 00:22:37,333 But they don't work out either. 403 00:22:38,667 --> 00:22:41,734 So this case is beginning to lose its force. 404 00:22:42,066 --> 00:22:43,667 [Calderon] Okay. 405 00:22:43,734 --> 00:22:45,967 An unsolved murder is always a bad thing. 406 00:22:45,967 --> 00:22:50,166 But we were trying and we were exhausting every lead we had. 407 00:22:54,266 --> 00:22:57,033 [grave instrumental music playing] 408 00:22:58,467 --> 00:23:00,266 [Kenda] And then September 13, 409 00:23:00,266 --> 00:23:02,967 ten days after Melissa was killed, 410 00:23:02,967 --> 00:23:06,767 another horrible event occurs in Laredo, Texas. 411 00:23:10,400 --> 00:23:11,600 [911 dispatch] Okay. 412 00:23:21,367 --> 00:23:24,066 Initially, it came in as an auto-pedestrian accident. 413 00:23:24,133 --> 00:23:25,667 They call it an auto-ped. 414 00:23:25,734 --> 00:23:27,767 Soon as the EMTs arrived at that scene... 415 00:23:28,166 --> 00:23:30,333 [sirens wailing] 416 00:23:31,100 --> 00:23:32,667 ...EMT said, "No, no, no. 417 00:23:32,667 --> 00:23:34,767 This isn't from being hit by a car. 418 00:23:34,834 --> 00:23:36,767 This woman has been shot in the head." 419 00:23:36,767 --> 00:23:40,667 [dramatic music playing] 420 00:23:40,667 --> 00:23:42,166 [Calderon] I crossed paths with the ambulance. 421 00:23:42,166 --> 00:23:44,767 So we sent the investigators to the hospital. 422 00:23:44,834 --> 00:23:46,133 [siren wailing] 423 00:23:46,133 --> 00:23:49,767 We had hopes that she would be able to tell us anything, something. 424 00:23:49,767 --> 00:23:52,166 [siren wailing] 425 00:23:52,166 --> 00:23:54,667 We began processing the scene. 426 00:23:54,734 --> 00:23:56,567 Even from just looking at the crime scene, 427 00:23:56,567 --> 00:23:58,467 you could tell that something horrible had happened there. 428 00:24:00,867 --> 00:24:02,266 [camera shutter clicks] 429 00:24:02,266 --> 00:24:04,867 Her property was scattered everywhere. 430 00:24:04,867 --> 00:24:06,066 [camera shutter clicking] 431 00:24:06,133 --> 00:24:08,367 It looked like there were a stretch of drag marks 432 00:24:08,433 --> 00:24:10,367 where she tried to crawl after she got injured... 433 00:24:10,433 --> 00:24:12,533 -[camera shutter clicks] -...leaving a trail of blood. 434 00:24:16,000 --> 00:24:17,667 And then he sees something else 435 00:24:17,734 --> 00:24:19,467 that alarms him to no end. 436 00:24:20,467 --> 00:24:21,667 [Calderon] Take a look at that. 437 00:24:21,667 --> 00:24:23,767 [suspenseful music playing] 438 00:24:23,767 --> 00:24:28,734 Three 40 caliber Smith & Wesson expended cases. 439 00:24:29,300 --> 00:24:31,867 [camera shutter clicking] 440 00:24:31,867 --> 00:24:33,567 [Kenda] It's about a mile away 441 00:24:33,634 --> 00:24:36,166 from where Melissa Ramirez was found. 442 00:24:37,467 --> 00:24:40,367 [Calderon] Having two similar cases 443 00:24:40,433 --> 00:24:42,367 on the same stretch of road, 444 00:24:42,433 --> 00:24:44,266 with a very similar weapon, 445 00:24:44,266 --> 00:24:45,867 that was out of the ordinary. 446 00:24:45,934 --> 00:24:48,166 We felt like we were probably dealing with 447 00:24:48,166 --> 00:24:50,333 the same person who had done that to Melissa. 448 00:24:51,600 --> 00:24:52,867 One, two, three. 449 00:24:52,867 --> 00:24:55,166 [Alaniz] It had all the markings and indications 450 00:24:55,166 --> 00:24:57,367 that this was the beginning of a serial killer. 451 00:24:58,000 --> 00:24:59,767 I know we... we have a problem. 452 00:25:00,467 --> 00:25:01,734 [camera shutter clicks] 453 00:25:03,400 --> 00:25:05,066 This time, there is a purse. 454 00:25:06,467 --> 00:25:09,000 [dispatch speaking indistinctly on police radio] 455 00:25:09,000 --> 00:25:12,767 [Kenda] And the officers at the scene discover that this is, in fact, 456 00:25:12,767 --> 00:25:14,867 Claudine Luera, 457 00:25:14,867 --> 00:25:17,433 the woman Calderon couldn't find. 458 00:25:18,266 --> 00:25:21,467 Who was a close friend of Melissa Ramirez. 459 00:25:22,767 --> 00:25:24,767 What is going on here? 460 00:25:24,767 --> 00:25:26,867 Who might be responsible for this? 461 00:25:29,900 --> 00:25:31,333 Good to have a cell phone here. 462 00:25:32,100 --> 00:25:36,567 The purse also contained a prepaid Tracfone 463 00:25:36,634 --> 00:25:38,166 and it wasn't locked. 464 00:25:38,233 --> 00:25:39,867 [camera shutter clicks] 465 00:25:39,867 --> 00:25:41,266 [Calderon] Phones can be very helpful. 466 00:25:41,266 --> 00:25:42,467 [camera shutter clicks] 467 00:25:42,533 --> 00:25:44,567 It can tell us a lot about a person. 468 00:25:44,567 --> 00:25:46,166 Can you bag this for us, please? 469 00:25:46,166 --> 00:25:48,667 Calderon is really anxious to speak to the victim. 470 00:25:48,667 --> 00:25:50,467 [man speaking indistinctly on phone] 471 00:25:50,467 --> 00:25:52,667 [Kenda] But that's when he learns from the hospital 472 00:25:53,767 --> 00:25:56,767 that the victim is never going to speak again. 473 00:25:59,000 --> 00:26:02,266 [Alaniz] Sadly, when she was taken to the emergency room, 474 00:26:02,266 --> 00:26:04,467 they tried to start to work on her, 475 00:26:04,467 --> 00:26:07,166 is when she expired and she passed. 476 00:26:10,100 --> 00:26:12,367 [Calderon] So once again, you have to know your victim. 477 00:26:12,367 --> 00:26:14,333 And you have to go out there and talk to family members, 478 00:26:15,266 --> 00:26:19,467 That can end up being the investigation key 479 00:26:19,533 --> 00:26:20,967 that unlocks what you're after. 480 00:26:25,166 --> 00:26:28,834 When she passed away I think the whole block heard me yell. 481 00:26:29,567 --> 00:26:31,567 It's the worst news. 482 00:26:31,567 --> 00:26:34,967 Those words will never leave my mind. 483 00:26:35,033 --> 00:26:36,567 Having to hear them say, like, 484 00:26:36,567 --> 00:26:39,934 "Yes, we can confirm that it is Claudine Luera." 485 00:26:41,166 --> 00:26:42,667 My first thought was, 486 00:26:42,734 --> 00:26:44,133 "I need to get to Ciara." 487 00:26:46,100 --> 00:26:50,767 It was a Friday morning. Um, I was working at the plasma center downtown. 488 00:26:51,967 --> 00:26:53,767 My manager comes to the back 489 00:26:53,767 --> 00:26:56,333 and she goes, "Hey, Ciara, there's um... 490 00:26:59,967 --> 00:27:01,266 there's someone here to see you." 491 00:27:01,266 --> 00:27:03,934 And she was like, "It's your aunt. She wants to speak to you." 492 00:27:04,867 --> 00:27:07,266 And I peeked my head out 493 00:27:07,266 --> 00:27:09,867 and I could just see, like, their body language, 494 00:27:09,867 --> 00:27:12,567 and, like, how they were looking at me. 495 00:27:12,634 --> 00:27:16,533 Something's wrong. Please, no. 496 00:27:20,667 --> 00:27:23,967 Claudine's family is able to tell Calderon 497 00:27:23,967 --> 00:27:25,667 a very sad story indeed. 498 00:27:25,667 --> 00:27:28,166 [somber instrumental music playing] 499 00:27:28,233 --> 00:27:30,367 She was educated. She was bright. 500 00:27:30,367 --> 00:27:33,567 And slowly, her life unraveled. 501 00:27:34,800 --> 00:27:37,367 [Colette] Claudine has five children. 502 00:27:38,367 --> 00:27:40,467 Ciara was two years old at the time 503 00:27:40,467 --> 00:27:43,133 when she had the first set of twins. 504 00:27:44,066 --> 00:27:47,567 And then, lo and behold, she got pregnant right away 505 00:27:47,567 --> 00:27:49,867 with the second set of twins. 506 00:27:49,867 --> 00:27:53,967 And then we started noticing what the first set of... twins, 507 00:27:53,967 --> 00:27:55,567 some characteristics. 508 00:27:55,567 --> 00:27:59,467 And I think getting the diagnosis of autism 509 00:27:59,467 --> 00:28:01,266 really hit her hard. 510 00:28:01,266 --> 00:28:03,767 I think that really just, you know, 511 00:28:03,834 --> 00:28:06,166 brought her down into a depression. 512 00:28:07,967 --> 00:28:12,100 She started getting more into, like, prescription drugs, 513 00:28:12,100 --> 00:28:14,367 and then in 2009, 514 00:28:14,433 --> 00:28:16,533 we knew something was going on. 515 00:28:19,100 --> 00:28:22,467 She was, like, heavily addicted to heroin at the time. 516 00:28:22,533 --> 00:28:24,667 And it was hard. 517 00:28:24,667 --> 00:28:27,867 I wanted her to do better. I wanted things to be different. 518 00:28:27,867 --> 00:28:29,433 I wanted my mom. 519 00:28:31,100 --> 00:28:34,867 [Kenda] Eventually, the five children were taken away from her. 520 00:28:34,934 --> 00:28:37,767 And she wound up on San Bernardo Avenue 521 00:28:38,100 --> 00:28:39,467 as a sex worker. 522 00:28:41,900 --> 00:28:46,667 -[dog barking] -[upbeat music playing] 523 00:28:46,667 --> 00:28:49,667 The day that Melissa's body had been found, 524 00:28:49,734 --> 00:28:53,000 my mom actually called me and she spent the night. 525 00:28:53,000 --> 00:28:57,233 And we hadn't spent the night together since I was, like, 13 years old. 526 00:28:57,867 --> 00:29:00,467 And I was really in shock, like, 527 00:29:00,467 --> 00:29:02,266 I was, like, "Okay, something's wrong." 528 00:29:02,266 --> 00:29:05,367 [upbeat music playing] 529 00:29:05,433 --> 00:29:07,266 [Ciara] I just know her saying, like, 530 00:29:07,333 --> 00:29:08,667 she feared her life. 531 00:29:08,667 --> 00:29:12,367 She knew Melissa wasn't gonna be the only one. 532 00:29:12,433 --> 00:29:15,166 But little did I know then 533 00:29:15,166 --> 00:29:17,033 that that would be the last time... 534 00:29:18,467 --> 00:29:20,033 That I'd never see her again. 535 00:29:24,166 --> 00:29:27,867 To learn that your mother has suddenly been ripped away from you, 536 00:29:27,934 --> 00:29:29,867 absolutely devastating. 537 00:29:29,867 --> 00:29:31,867 To make matters worse, 538 00:29:31,934 --> 00:29:35,667 now we have two victims working in the same industry 539 00:29:35,667 --> 00:29:38,166 killed in exactly the same way 540 00:29:38,166 --> 00:29:40,266 in similar locations. 541 00:29:40,333 --> 00:29:42,166 And no one has a clue 542 00:29:42,166 --> 00:29:44,667 as to who might be responsible. 543 00:29:44,734 --> 00:29:47,066 When the second case happened, Claudine, 544 00:29:47,133 --> 00:29:49,867 it was like a, "What is going on?" 545 00:29:49,934 --> 00:29:52,567 We had a serial killer in our midst. 546 00:29:52,634 --> 00:29:55,000 He's targeting these people. 547 00:29:55,000 --> 00:29:56,567 He's targeting sex workers. 548 00:29:56,634 --> 00:29:58,367 And I'm telling the Sheriff's department, 549 00:29:58,367 --> 00:30:01,100 "You guys need to find this killer 550 00:30:01,100 --> 00:30:02,533 or there's gonna be more. 551 00:30:03,100 --> 00:30:04,166 There's gonna be more." 552 00:30:09,667 --> 00:30:11,867 We were feeling the pressure from the community 553 00:30:11,867 --> 00:30:13,667 and our bosses as well. 554 00:30:13,667 --> 00:30:17,100 We're trying to track down every bit 555 00:30:17,100 --> 00:30:19,567 of every lead that we had. 556 00:30:19,634 --> 00:30:21,967 Calderon goes back to check with his tech team 557 00:30:21,967 --> 00:30:24,867 regarding the contents of the Tracfone 558 00:30:24,867 --> 00:30:27,834 that Claudine Luera had in her purse. 559 00:30:30,667 --> 00:30:33,667 At that point, we discover a picture of Claudine 560 00:30:33,667 --> 00:30:35,066 with another male, 561 00:30:35,066 --> 00:30:36,767 taken recently. 562 00:30:36,767 --> 00:30:39,066 [Kenda] There are a number of text messages 563 00:30:39,133 --> 00:30:41,667 between Claudine and an individual 564 00:30:41,667 --> 00:30:44,066 known as Hector Vega 565 00:30:44,133 --> 00:30:46,166 on the night of her murder. 566 00:30:47,467 --> 00:30:49,367 They look up Hector Vega. 567 00:30:50,900 --> 00:30:53,000 Vega is a drug addict. 568 00:30:53,000 --> 00:30:56,266 Vega's committed aggravated assault in the past. 569 00:30:56,333 --> 00:30:59,367 Could he be our guy? Absolutely. 570 00:30:59,367 --> 00:31:02,967 [Calderon] So we got back to work and we started looking for him. 571 00:31:02,967 --> 00:31:05,266 We have vehicles parked at his house. 572 00:31:05,333 --> 00:31:08,066 And at some point, he shows up. 573 00:31:08,867 --> 00:31:12,934 And he realizes that there's some cop cars 574 00:31:13,767 --> 00:31:15,467 and he takes off. 575 00:31:15,533 --> 00:31:16,367 [siren blaring] 576 00:31:16,367 --> 00:31:19,166 If they had any doubts about Hector Vega 577 00:31:19,166 --> 00:31:20,867 being a possible suspect, 578 00:31:20,867 --> 00:31:23,066 it's been erased by his flight. 579 00:31:23,066 --> 00:31:24,767 Innocent people don't run. 580 00:31:24,767 --> 00:31:26,934 And Hector is running. 581 00:31:29,900 --> 00:31:33,266 [dramatic music playing] 582 00:31:33,333 --> 00:31:35,467 Detective Calderon summons 583 00:31:35,467 --> 00:31:37,667 a number of cruisers to his location. 584 00:31:37,667 --> 00:31:40,467 [siren blaring] 585 00:31:40,467 --> 00:31:43,166 -[sirens wailing] -[dispatch speaking indistinctly on radio] 586 00:31:43,166 --> 00:31:46,266 They try to pursue Hector in his car. 587 00:31:46,266 --> 00:31:50,066 -[sirens blaring] -[tires screech] 588 00:31:50,133 --> 00:31:54,266 Highway speeds inside the city aren't anything that anybody needs to be doing, ever. 589 00:31:54,266 --> 00:31:57,834 He's weaving in and out of streets, making hard turns. 590 00:31:59,467 --> 00:32:00,567 And all of a sudden... 591 00:32:05,000 --> 00:32:06,266 We couldn't see him anymore. 592 00:32:06,333 --> 00:32:10,867 [suspenseful music playing] 593 00:32:10,867 --> 00:32:12,467 The officers said, "Hey, he's gone." 594 00:32:12,467 --> 00:32:14,066 They disengaged 595 00:32:14,066 --> 00:32:16,133 and we tried to find him using other means. 596 00:32:16,600 --> 00:32:17,667 Hector's in the wind. 597 00:32:17,667 --> 00:32:20,934 Is that frustrating? Oh, my. Yes, it is. 598 00:32:25,100 --> 00:32:27,567 Calderon is well aware 599 00:32:27,634 --> 00:32:30,166 if the suspect moves across the border, 600 00:32:30,767 --> 00:32:32,066 his case is doomed. 601 00:32:42,000 --> 00:32:44,100 It's not until the next day... 602 00:32:44,100 --> 00:32:47,166 -[phone ringing] -[bell dinging] 603 00:32:47,233 --> 00:32:49,567 [Calderon] We get a call at the police department 604 00:32:49,634 --> 00:32:51,467 Someone who wanted to come forward and talk. 605 00:32:51,533 --> 00:32:54,233 [dramatic music playing] 606 00:32:55,767 --> 00:32:57,533 Well, guess who it was. 607 00:33:03,667 --> 00:33:05,867 Mr. Hector Vega. 608 00:33:05,867 --> 00:33:08,533 [dramatic music playing] 609 00:33:09,767 --> 00:33:13,066 The runaway guy and skilled stunt driver 610 00:33:13,066 --> 00:33:15,967 is now sitting in a police station by his own volition. 611 00:33:17,300 --> 00:33:18,567 What happened? 612 00:33:24,667 --> 00:33:27,233 Calderon asked Hector, "Why did you run?" 613 00:33:29,300 --> 00:33:31,867 "Oh, man, I had drugs on me. 614 00:33:32,867 --> 00:33:34,667 So I started to run. 615 00:33:34,734 --> 00:33:36,000 And then I thought about Claudine. 616 00:33:36,000 --> 00:33:37,567 I heard what happened to Claudine. 617 00:33:37,634 --> 00:33:39,100 I was friends with her." 618 00:33:39,100 --> 00:33:41,166 He started telling us that they hung out 619 00:33:41,233 --> 00:33:42,567 and, you know, used drugs. 620 00:33:43,667 --> 00:33:45,767 [Hector] We made out for a bit last night. 621 00:33:45,767 --> 00:33:48,367 And then she went back out to San Bernardo. 622 00:33:48,367 --> 00:33:51,367 "I figured you guys put two and two together 623 00:33:51,367 --> 00:33:54,066 and you think I did this. 624 00:33:54,133 --> 00:33:56,266 And I didn't do this." 625 00:33:56,266 --> 00:33:59,066 [Calderon] He said that that was the last time he had seen her 626 00:33:59,066 --> 00:34:02,166 until he heard that she had been found, uh, dead. 627 00:34:06,367 --> 00:34:08,634 He was genuinely disturbed and distraught. 628 00:34:09,266 --> 00:34:10,867 I'm sure it was difficult for him 629 00:34:10,867 --> 00:34:15,266 to try and understand that when she left his company, 630 00:34:15,333 --> 00:34:17,367 she ended up getting killed shortly after. 631 00:34:17,367 --> 00:34:20,767 Calderon is experienced and has talked to a lot of people, 632 00:34:20,834 --> 00:34:22,367 both suspects and otherwise. 633 00:34:22,433 --> 00:34:24,767 And Hector comes across as legitimate. 634 00:34:24,834 --> 00:34:27,533 He's not the best person in the world but he's not a killer. 635 00:34:27,967 --> 00:34:30,767 [dramatic music playing] 636 00:34:30,834 --> 00:34:33,867 [Calderon] It's difficult, getting your hopes up, 637 00:34:33,867 --> 00:34:35,233 and then at the end, you know, 638 00:34:35,567 --> 00:34:36,767 falling short. 639 00:34:38,867 --> 00:34:42,000 But it's something that happens in any criminal investigation 640 00:34:42,000 --> 00:34:43,567 and you just gotta pick up the pieces, 641 00:34:43,567 --> 00:34:45,667 reassess and come up with a new gameplan 642 00:34:45,734 --> 00:34:47,767 and go forward again. 643 00:34:47,767 --> 00:34:51,767 There's still this maniac serial killer running around, killing everyone. 644 00:34:51,767 --> 00:34:54,967 And if he's done two, he's gonna do more. 645 00:34:55,033 --> 00:34:57,767 -[tires screech] -[engine accelerating] 646 00:34:58,967 --> 00:35:01,867 You know that the person responsible for this 647 00:35:01,934 --> 00:35:04,266 picks up women on San Bernardo Avenue. 648 00:35:06,600 --> 00:35:09,767 We need to surveil San Bernardo Avenue. 649 00:35:11,266 --> 00:35:12,767 [Calderon] We were driving up and down, 650 00:35:12,834 --> 00:35:14,533 looking for anything out of the ordinary. 651 00:35:15,567 --> 00:35:20,166 [mysterious music playing] 652 00:35:20,166 --> 00:35:23,767 They see some different cars they haven't seen before. 653 00:35:26,066 --> 00:35:28,166 They pass those plate numbers on 654 00:35:28,233 --> 00:35:29,867 to the United States Border Patrol 655 00:35:29,934 --> 00:35:32,333 by and through supervisor Ortiz. 656 00:35:34,000 --> 00:35:35,433 And nothing comes of it. 657 00:35:37,066 --> 00:35:41,333 Nobody emerges as anybody with a history, anybody with intent. 658 00:35:42,600 --> 00:35:46,066 Calderon did a great job in a case of this magnitude. 659 00:35:46,066 --> 00:35:47,567 He was relentless, 660 00:35:47,567 --> 00:35:50,266 following leads and interviewing people, 661 00:35:50,333 --> 00:35:52,533 and doing what any good investigator's doing. 662 00:35:54,000 --> 00:35:57,367 But being in this line of work for 28 years, 663 00:35:57,433 --> 00:35:59,133 sometimes you need a lucky break. 664 00:36:00,567 --> 00:36:02,667 In this case, that's what he got. 665 00:36:02,667 --> 00:36:04,667 It is September 14, 666 00:36:04,667 --> 00:36:07,233 day 11 in the investigation... 667 00:36:08,867 --> 00:36:10,767 when a Texas state trooper 668 00:36:10,834 --> 00:36:13,433 pulls into a gas station to fuel his car. 669 00:36:15,667 --> 00:36:18,367 [Alaniz] It's sometime around 9:00 p.m. 670 00:36:18,433 --> 00:36:19,634 Outta nowhere... 671 00:36:21,467 --> 00:36:24,567 this female comes running to him, dressed in jeans. 672 00:36:24,634 --> 00:36:26,867 and she just doesn't have a blouse or shirt on. 673 00:36:26,934 --> 00:36:29,166 -[woman] Oh! -Oh! Excuse me. 674 00:36:29,166 --> 00:36:31,066 [officer] What's... what... 675 00:36:31,066 --> 00:36:33,467 And she's screaming, "He's trying to kill me!" 676 00:36:33,533 --> 00:36:34,767 [woman speaking indistinctly] 677 00:36:34,767 --> 00:36:38,166 The trooper puts his hand on his gun and looks behind her 678 00:36:38,166 --> 00:36:40,367 for threats and sees none. 679 00:36:40,433 --> 00:36:42,333 He deploys his bodycam. 680 00:36:47,567 --> 00:36:51,100 She's terrified. She's shaking uncontrollably. 681 00:36:51,100 --> 00:36:52,967 [Alaniz] Her eyes are just wide open, 682 00:36:52,967 --> 00:36:55,634 speaking real fast, unintelligible. 683 00:37:00,200 --> 00:37:01,867 [Alaniz] At this point in time, he's thinking 684 00:37:01,867 --> 00:37:04,367 that he's interacting with a drug addict 685 00:37:04,367 --> 00:37:07,767 or some homeless person who's just talking gibberish, right? 686 00:37:09,100 --> 00:37:13,333 But the more he talks to her, things start to get serious real quick. 687 00:37:20,767 --> 00:37:23,433 A guy just pointed a gun at her face. 688 00:37:26,467 --> 00:37:28,133 [trooper] Erika? Okay. 689 00:37:29,300 --> 00:37:32,967 Well, now, what does Erika Pena do? 690 00:37:32,967 --> 00:37:37,367 She's a sex worker on San Bernardo Avenue. 691 00:37:37,433 --> 00:37:39,567 Oh, my. 692 00:37:39,567 --> 00:37:42,967 Being aware that there is an ongoing investigation 693 00:37:43,033 --> 00:37:46,367 for somebody killing sex workers, he makes the connection. 694 00:37:48,767 --> 00:37:50,734 [Kenda] Two and two equals four. 695 00:37:51,367 --> 00:37:53,266 She is a living witness 696 00:37:53,333 --> 00:37:54,567 to whoever this killer is. 697 00:37:54,567 --> 00:37:56,567 who's already killed two 698 00:37:56,634 --> 00:37:58,867 and just now attempted to kill a third one. 699 00:38:03,667 --> 00:38:06,734 [mysterious music playing] 700 00:38:14,667 --> 00:38:18,333 Erika Pena has escaped somebody 701 00:38:19,100 --> 00:38:21,333 who just pointed a gun at her face. 702 00:38:25,567 --> 00:38:27,367 She is hyper-ventilating. 703 00:38:27,367 --> 00:38:30,967 She's got fear and adrenaline that are going through her. 704 00:38:36,800 --> 00:38:38,133 [trooper] Mm-hmm. 705 00:38:39,967 --> 00:38:42,767 [Calderon] She mentioned Melissa's name, Claudine's name. 706 00:38:42,834 --> 00:38:45,867 Seeing as who she was and kind of the circumstances, 707 00:38:45,867 --> 00:38:49,767 the trooper thought that it might have something to do 708 00:38:49,767 --> 00:38:53,166 with what me and the ranger were investigating. 709 00:38:53,166 --> 00:38:54,567 [line ringing] 710 00:38:54,567 --> 00:38:55,867 So he called. 711 00:38:55,867 --> 00:38:59,266 [trooper] She knows the victim, the girl, the deceased girl. 712 00:38:59,333 --> 00:39:01,767 With that in mind, I said, "You know what? 713 00:39:01,767 --> 00:39:04,266 This probably might be a lead." 714 00:39:04,266 --> 00:39:06,266 Uh, yeah, you want me to take her over there? 715 00:39:06,266 --> 00:39:09,266 Calderon, he wants to talk to her 716 00:39:09,266 --> 00:39:10,867 right... now. 717 00:39:11,667 --> 00:39:13,367 [siren wailing] 718 00:39:13,433 --> 00:39:16,066 -[engine accelerating] -[siren wails] 719 00:39:20,467 --> 00:39:24,667 [Calderon] The trooper shows up and she is crying, 720 00:39:24,734 --> 00:39:27,166 she's scared, she's convinced that 721 00:39:27,166 --> 00:39:29,166 you know, someone's coming after her to kill her. 722 00:39:29,233 --> 00:39:33,967 So I go inside, get her a shirt from somewhere inside the station 723 00:39:33,967 --> 00:39:35,934 and she was able to tell her story. 724 00:39:39,500 --> 00:39:41,767 She begins telling us how she knew 725 00:39:41,767 --> 00:39:44,100 this client of hers by the name of David. 726 00:39:44,100 --> 00:39:47,166 And that David had picked her up on San Bernardo. 727 00:39:47,166 --> 00:39:51,533 The same area Melissa and Claudine worked and frequented. 728 00:40:04,667 --> 00:40:06,567 She gets in the truck with him. 729 00:40:06,567 --> 00:40:09,166 He said "I want to take you to my house 'cause my wife and kids 730 00:40:09,166 --> 00:40:10,467 are away for the weekend." 731 00:40:10,533 --> 00:40:11,734 So off they go. 732 00:40:13,800 --> 00:40:16,767 Once they get inside, they're just talking. 733 00:40:19,100 --> 00:40:22,000 And, uh, the conversation at some point came up 734 00:40:22,000 --> 00:40:24,667 about Melissa and Claudine. 735 00:40:24,734 --> 00:40:27,367 And she said his whole demeanor changed. 736 00:40:36,000 --> 00:40:38,266 [Calderon] She says that he was grabbing the back of his neck 737 00:40:38,333 --> 00:40:41,166 and that he was making weird noises. 738 00:40:41,166 --> 00:40:43,166 And she started feeling really uneasy. 739 00:40:43,166 --> 00:40:45,133 [dramatic music playing] 740 00:40:53,767 --> 00:40:58,266 David has a look that she described, just a real scary look. 741 00:40:59,500 --> 00:41:00,667 Erika felt like 742 00:41:01,567 --> 00:41:03,467 he might have had something to do with it. 743 00:41:03,467 --> 00:41:05,767 And she started, you know, 744 00:41:05,767 --> 00:41:08,166 uh, freaking out, for lack of a better word. 745 00:41:10,867 --> 00:41:13,967 She has this overwhelming sense of nausea, 746 00:41:14,033 --> 00:41:16,634 sick feeling in her stomach comes over her. 747 00:41:19,300 --> 00:41:20,567 [vomiting] 748 00:41:36,367 --> 00:41:39,066 She started to think, "How can I get out of this?" 749 00:41:39,066 --> 00:41:40,734 And without trying 750 00:41:42,000 --> 00:41:45,333 to tip him off, she's asking, "Take me somewhere." 751 00:41:46,000 --> 00:41:49,467 [mysterious music playing] 752 00:41:53,367 --> 00:41:56,467 He suggested stopping near a gas station 753 00:41:56,533 --> 00:41:58,066 so she could get something to eat. 754 00:41:58,667 --> 00:42:00,333 and maybe settle her stomach. 755 00:42:02,967 --> 00:42:05,834 [Alaniz] He decides to stop in the back of the gas station, 756 00:42:07,467 --> 00:42:09,867 on the side of the street, in the dark... 757 00:42:10,667 --> 00:42:13,934 She starts at this moment thinking, it's him. He killed Melissa. 758 00:42:15,000 --> 00:42:16,166 He killed Claudine. It's him. 759 00:42:23,467 --> 00:42:24,567 He's telling her stop freaking out. 760 00:42:24,567 --> 00:42:26,767 You're not getting out. You're not getting out. 761 00:42:26,767 --> 00:42:28,767 And then she starts to reach for that door handle 762 00:42:28,767 --> 00:42:31,367 is when he pulls that handgun out, 763 00:42:31,367 --> 00:42:34,634 brings it across his body and points it to her face. 764 00:42:38,667 --> 00:42:40,734 She was going to be the next victim. 765 00:42:43,300 --> 00:42:45,467 She became frantic and tried to escape. 766 00:42:45,467 --> 00:42:47,266 She said that he was trying to hold onto her 767 00:42:47,266 --> 00:42:48,533 and he grabbed her by the shirt. 768 00:42:58,166 --> 00:42:59,233 Come here. 769 00:43:02,100 --> 00:43:04,667 He pulled the shirt directly off her back 770 00:43:05,767 --> 00:43:08,367 and she ran to the gas station 771 00:43:08,367 --> 00:43:12,066 where she sees this Texas state trooper fueling his car. 772 00:43:23,467 --> 00:43:27,867 We felt like we might be finally getting the lead we were after 773 00:43:27,934 --> 00:43:30,367 and that we were looking for a David. 774 00:43:30,367 --> 00:43:34,734 She tells us that we need to be looking out for a white pickup truck. 775 00:43:43,166 --> 00:43:46,867 She doesn't know the address of the house but she knows the general vicinity. 776 00:43:47,967 --> 00:43:50,000 She had a couple of landmarks in mind. 777 00:43:50,000 --> 00:43:54,567 I felt that we could reasonably drive around out there 778 00:43:54,567 --> 00:43:56,634 and try and locate the address. 779 00:44:03,367 --> 00:44:06,100 So we went to that specific neighborhood 780 00:44:06,100 --> 00:44:08,467 and we started looking around. 781 00:44:12,500 --> 00:44:15,667 And we had, uh, several other investigators 782 00:44:15,734 --> 00:44:18,266 and deputies in the car, to provide security. 783 00:44:29,467 --> 00:44:31,567 And all of a sudden, she says, "Wait, wait, wait, wait." 784 00:44:35,800 --> 00:44:37,734 That's the house right there. 785 00:44:45,800 --> 00:44:48,867 Calderon's headlights come across the sidewalk 786 00:44:48,934 --> 00:44:51,533 and the vomit is on the sidewalk. 787 00:44:54,400 --> 00:44:57,767 And that ended up being what broke the case wide open. 788 00:45:00,066 --> 00:45:01,767 So once we got the address, 789 00:45:01,834 --> 00:45:05,367 we're checking databases, both public and police databases, 790 00:45:05,433 --> 00:45:07,166 to see who are we dealing with. 791 00:45:08,567 --> 00:45:14,333 And when he sees the name, he is absolutely stunned into silence. 792 00:45:15,400 --> 00:45:18,100 It's not just someone he knows. 793 00:45:18,100 --> 00:45:22,834 It's someone who's working alongside him in this very case. 794 00:45:28,567 --> 00:45:32,000 [Kenda] Calderon goes back to the station, runs the address 795 00:45:32,000 --> 00:45:33,867 and now he has the name. 796 00:45:36,467 --> 00:45:39,266 He never could have predicted what he finds. 797 00:45:39,333 --> 00:45:41,834 The ghost that Calderon has been seeking 798 00:45:43,367 --> 00:45:47,367 is in fact Juan David Ortiz. 799 00:45:49,867 --> 00:45:53,533 A supervisor with the United States Border Patrol 800 00:45:57,166 --> 00:46:00,734 and the agent working the case with Calderon. 801 00:46:05,000 --> 00:46:06,066 He was a cop. 802 00:46:08,166 --> 00:46:10,367 It completely surprised all of us. 803 00:46:12,400 --> 00:46:18,567 He would have been the last one that any of us would have ever imagined. 804 00:46:18,567 --> 00:46:25,667 It is scary to think that he was in there listening, watching, observing 805 00:46:25,667 --> 00:46:27,734 as the case was investigated. 806 00:46:36,367 --> 00:46:39,767 Juan David Ortiz who is now 35 years of age 807 00:46:39,834 --> 00:46:42,066 was born in Brownsville, Texas 808 00:46:42,133 --> 00:46:44,166 and raised by a single mother. 809 00:46:44,166 --> 00:46:47,166 He joined the United States Navy out of high school 810 00:46:47,166 --> 00:46:48,967 and was trained as a crewman. 811 00:46:49,033 --> 00:46:51,867 He had been deployed in 2003, 812 00:46:51,867 --> 00:46:55,266 had seen action in Iraq. 813 00:46:55,266 --> 00:46:57,867 He was a medic for his marine unit. 814 00:46:59,667 --> 00:47:00,967 When he gets out of the service, 815 00:47:00,967 --> 00:47:03,233 he decides to join the Border Patrol. 816 00:47:04,166 --> 00:47:06,166 He has an impeccable record. 817 00:47:06,166 --> 00:47:09,667 He shows empathy for immigrants coming across the border, 818 00:47:09,667 --> 00:47:11,066 migrants. 819 00:47:11,066 --> 00:47:14,867 He treats people suffering from exposure of being in the desert. 820 00:47:14,867 --> 00:47:18,433 People call him Doc because of his skills. 821 00:47:20,166 --> 00:47:22,100 [Alaniz] There was nothing whatsoever 822 00:47:22,100 --> 00:47:25,066 based on what we saw on Juan David Ortiz's background 823 00:47:25,133 --> 00:47:26,667 that this would have been foreseeable. 824 00:47:26,734 --> 00:47:28,734 Uh, his record was clean. 825 00:47:29,600 --> 00:47:33,166 This guy was your Laredoan neighbor. 826 00:47:33,233 --> 00:47:36,467 He had a steady job. He had a nice house. He had a family. 827 00:47:36,533 --> 00:47:38,467 Went to church on Sundays. 828 00:47:38,533 --> 00:47:42,467 Not what you would think of when you think serial killer. 829 00:47:45,166 --> 00:47:47,467 [Kenda] Humans are complicated. 830 00:47:47,467 --> 00:47:49,734 Sometimes frighteningly so. 831 00:47:50,767 --> 00:47:54,467 How does one go from being an all-American war hero 832 00:47:54,533 --> 00:47:56,667 into a psychotic killer? 833 00:48:00,100 --> 00:48:03,567 [Alaniz] So we're not dealing with an ordinary criminal. 834 00:48:03,567 --> 00:48:06,166 It presents a whole new dynamic. 835 00:48:08,467 --> 00:48:12,066 We're dealing with a Border Patrol agent, 836 00:48:12,133 --> 00:48:13,967 who we know carries a duty weapon 837 00:48:13,967 --> 00:48:15,867 that's a 40-caliber Smith & Wesson 838 00:48:15,867 --> 00:48:19,634 and we know that they get issued federal cartridge ammunition. 839 00:48:21,600 --> 00:48:27,233 So he's using his duty weapon to carry out his rage against sex workers. 840 00:48:29,200 --> 00:48:32,266 He was prepared to drop victim number three, 841 00:48:32,266 --> 00:48:35,266 when she interfered with that by escaping his custody. 842 00:48:35,800 --> 00:48:38,467 He is not going to stop. 843 00:48:38,533 --> 00:48:40,433 They're going to have to stop him. 844 00:48:42,500 --> 00:48:44,100 [Alaniz] The race was finding him 845 00:48:44,100 --> 00:48:49,033 before more victims and more bodies started to stack up. 846 00:48:51,100 --> 00:48:55,166 We had a security team at his house to see if anyone came back home. 847 00:48:55,166 --> 00:48:56,867 That wasn't happening. 848 00:48:56,934 --> 00:48:58,567 Nobody got close to the house. 849 00:48:59,367 --> 00:49:00,967 We put out information 850 00:49:01,033 --> 00:49:04,967 about the plates associated with that white pickup truck 851 00:49:05,033 --> 00:49:07,033 being driven by Juan David Ortiz 852 00:49:07,667 --> 00:49:11,166 and that he was being looked for 853 00:49:11,233 --> 00:49:15,166 as a person of interest in connection with Melissa and Claudine's murder. 854 00:49:17,800 --> 00:49:21,867 Ortiz is not an idiot. He knows he's being looked for. 855 00:49:21,867 --> 00:49:23,066 So he is running. 856 00:49:34,567 --> 00:49:37,266 Two hours, almost, after Erika's escape, 857 00:49:37,266 --> 00:49:42,433 we get notified that a trooper is at a gas station off of San Bernardo. 858 00:49:45,867 --> 00:49:51,867 State Trooper Bradshaw sees that truck matching that description 859 00:49:51,867 --> 00:49:56,233 parked in front of a dumpster to the left side of the gas station. 860 00:49:58,567 --> 00:50:01,266 [Kenda] He looks through the window of the gas station 861 00:50:01,333 --> 00:50:02,867 and who does he see? 862 00:50:02,867 --> 00:50:06,333 None other than Juan David Ortiz. 863 00:50:11,600 --> 00:50:12,734 He calls it in 864 00:50:13,467 --> 00:50:16,834 and trooper Obregon also pulls in. 865 00:50:28,467 --> 00:50:32,367 Now you're about to confront someone who is undoubtedly armed. 866 00:50:35,600 --> 00:50:37,567 You don't want to confront him in the store. 867 00:50:37,567 --> 00:50:40,567 You're putting the clerk at risk and you're putting everyone else. 868 00:50:40,634 --> 00:50:42,367 You're going to wait for him to come out. 869 00:50:50,867 --> 00:50:53,934 Juan David Ortiz walks out of the Stripes store. 870 00:50:59,000 --> 00:51:00,533 They are giving him orders. 871 00:51:02,066 --> 00:51:04,233 Juan David Ortiz is not following orders. 872 00:51:11,266 --> 00:51:14,100 He starts, uh, acting like he's scared 873 00:51:14,100 --> 00:51:15,834 and he doesn't know why they want to talk to him. 874 00:51:26,100 --> 00:51:28,767 It's a very high stress, uh, situation. 875 00:51:34,100 --> 00:51:36,433 Ortiz is thinking about what he's going to do. 876 00:51:46,100 --> 00:51:50,133 And he sees the opportunity and he makes a run for it. 877 00:51:56,567 --> 00:51:57,634 [bleep] 878 00:51:58,600 --> 00:52:01,467 Our serial killer is finally within reach. 879 00:52:01,467 --> 00:52:04,867 You can run, Mr. Ortiz, but you cannot hide. 880 00:52:20,000 --> 00:52:22,834 Juan David Ortiz has finally been located. 881 00:52:26,500 --> 00:52:29,367 But he seems to have no interest in giving himself up. 882 00:52:35,667 --> 00:52:38,634 Ortiz sees an opportunity and he bolts. 883 00:52:41,467 --> 00:52:43,166 [bleep] 884 00:52:43,166 --> 00:52:47,634 He is able to get that little lead on these two troopers. 885 00:52:56,100 --> 00:53:00,934 And they lose sight of him running toward the parking lot of the Ava Hotel. 886 00:53:07,200 --> 00:53:11,066 They stop their foot chase and they ask for backup. 887 00:53:22,000 --> 00:53:25,000 [Kenda] Ortiz has run into a parking garage. 888 00:53:25,000 --> 00:53:27,867 This particular parking garage has several levels. 889 00:53:27,867 --> 00:53:30,233 Is he going to steal a car? What's he going to do? 890 00:53:38,367 --> 00:53:39,967 A couple of minutes after is when I show up 891 00:53:40,033 --> 00:53:42,667 with, uh, the ranger and the rest of the investigators. 892 00:53:42,667 --> 00:53:44,333 Immediately, we set up a perimeter. 893 00:53:50,000 --> 00:53:55,834 We block off all the exits of the building and of that city block. 894 00:54:03,266 --> 00:54:05,967 So now that they know he's contained in this garage, 895 00:54:05,967 --> 00:54:07,233 they call the SWAT team. 896 00:54:12,300 --> 00:54:15,667 A parking garage is a difficult place to search. 897 00:54:15,667 --> 00:54:17,467 They don't have people with the right equipment 898 00:54:17,467 --> 00:54:20,166 and the right protective gear to search this premise. 899 00:54:23,567 --> 00:54:25,166 [Calderon] While we're organizing the SWAT team 900 00:54:25,166 --> 00:54:28,266 to search for Ortiz in the Ava Hotel parking lot, 901 00:54:28,266 --> 00:54:32,367 we get a call from a passerby off of IH-35. 902 00:54:54,100 --> 00:54:56,934 Is our body count suddenly rising? 903 00:55:02,667 --> 00:55:05,667 [Calderon] We send a deputy out there to go check 904 00:55:05,667 --> 00:55:09,166 and he tells me that it's another crime scene. 905 00:55:11,367 --> 00:55:12,533 It's a woman face down. 906 00:55:15,166 --> 00:55:18,634 The officer sees Smith & Wesson expended casing. 907 00:55:21,667 --> 00:55:23,667 [Calderon] There's 40 caliber casings again 908 00:55:23,667 --> 00:55:28,066 and we were concluding that it was probably related 909 00:55:28,133 --> 00:55:29,867 to Melissa and Claudine's murder. 910 00:55:32,800 --> 00:55:35,834 Calderon's worst nightmare is coming true. 911 00:55:36,400 --> 00:55:39,066 Ortiz is continuing his work. 912 00:55:44,066 --> 00:55:47,567 The victim was identified as Guiselda Cantu. 913 00:55:47,567 --> 00:55:51,934 Also worked in prostitution. Also substance abuse problems. 914 00:55:53,100 --> 00:55:59,867 Guiselda was a mother and she was a good person. 915 00:55:59,867 --> 00:56:04,634 Obviously also addictions and the same problems like the other victims. 916 00:56:09,000 --> 00:56:13,667 If Ortiz escapes that garage without being arrested or killed, 917 00:56:13,734 --> 00:56:15,734 more bodies are going to appear. 918 00:56:16,667 --> 00:56:17,934 He's on a mission. 919 00:56:25,900 --> 00:56:29,166 The SWAT team are very well trained, but so is Ortiz. 920 00:56:29,233 --> 00:56:31,433 He knows his way around weaponry. 921 00:56:32,867 --> 00:56:35,767 The commander of the SWAT team announces the standard plan. 922 00:56:35,834 --> 00:56:37,734 Clear this place one level at a time 923 00:56:38,600 --> 00:56:41,333 to drive him up. You want him up. 924 00:56:41,767 --> 00:56:44,166 High is easy to capture 925 00:56:44,233 --> 00:56:45,934 'cause there is no stairway to heaven. 926 00:56:51,867 --> 00:56:54,367 So we used our tactical team, the SWAT team, 927 00:56:54,433 --> 00:56:56,967 and, uh, some troopers that went in with our SWAT team. 928 00:56:58,700 --> 00:57:00,066 [Alaniz] They formed a stack 929 00:57:00,066 --> 00:57:04,834 and they went up the ramp into the parking lot area of the hotel. 930 00:57:14,567 --> 00:57:16,367 [Calderon] By this time, I had made my way up 931 00:57:16,433 --> 00:57:17,867 and I was watching from on top. 932 00:57:17,867 --> 00:57:20,533 I had a bird's eye view of everything going on down there. 933 00:57:26,800 --> 00:57:29,867 The SWAT team clear the first level. They find nothing. 934 00:57:36,200 --> 00:57:38,066 They clear the second level. 935 00:57:38,567 --> 00:57:40,233 They still haven't found him. 936 00:57:40,667 --> 00:57:41,967 Is he still here? 937 00:57:42,700 --> 00:57:44,367 Did he somehow get out of this? 938 00:57:53,367 --> 00:57:55,734 You know, in one of the bodycam videos, you hear the breathing. 939 00:57:59,767 --> 00:58:03,367 That fast-paced, hyperventilating breathing 940 00:58:03,367 --> 00:58:06,533 that comes with being in a high-stress situation. 941 00:58:11,266 --> 00:58:14,767 Every step they take, you feel that stress, 942 00:58:14,834 --> 00:58:17,967 thinking they're going to be met with gunfire. 943 00:58:22,300 --> 00:58:25,567 I radioed to them to make it to the top of the parking garage 944 00:58:25,634 --> 00:58:27,934 so we can check the rest of the parking garage. 945 00:58:31,900 --> 00:58:34,367 As they were finishing searching the last lot, 946 00:58:35,100 --> 00:58:37,266 Hey, Captain. Take a look at this. 947 00:58:37,266 --> 00:58:40,667 we were told Ortiz is posting things on Facebook. 948 00:58:40,734 --> 00:58:43,033 And I asked, like, he's posting them now? 949 00:58:47,266 --> 00:58:50,433 One of the Facebook messages he posted was 950 00:58:51,200 --> 00:58:53,166 [reading] 951 00:58:53,667 --> 00:58:55,467 and the other one was 952 00:58:55,867 --> 00:58:59,333 [reading] 953 00:59:00,500 --> 00:59:02,967 [Kenda] This is not a good thing. 954 00:59:03,033 --> 00:59:06,066 If he's making his final goodbyes, 955 00:59:06,133 --> 00:59:08,667 nothing is more dangerous than that. 956 00:59:10,266 --> 00:59:12,767 [Calderon] Based off of what they told us that he was posting, 957 00:59:12,767 --> 00:59:14,467 we didn't know what we were coming up against. 958 00:59:20,900 --> 00:59:24,266 SWAT's mission is to take him, dead or alive. 959 00:59:24,266 --> 00:59:25,467 They don't care which. 960 00:59:28,667 --> 00:59:31,767 They assume they're going to get in a gunfight. 961 00:59:42,367 --> 00:59:46,133 [Kenda] It's been five hours since Erika Peña escaped the clutches 962 00:59:46,133 --> 00:59:49,400 of the serial killer Juan David Ortiz. 963 00:59:50,367 --> 00:59:52,967 And now Calderon and his SWAT team 964 00:59:52,967 --> 00:59:55,600 hope to have him cornered in a parking garage. 965 01:00:04,033 --> 01:00:08,867 We have the SWAT team searching the floor by floor, by car, 966 01:00:08,867 --> 01:00:11,367 under cars, behind pickup trucks, 967 01:00:11,367 --> 01:00:14,433 and as they were finishing searching the last lot... 968 01:00:28,000 --> 01:00:31,634 There is a black truck and Juan David Ortiz is in that truck. 969 01:00:41,333 --> 01:00:43,834 They started giving him commands and they took him down. 970 01:00:53,567 --> 01:00:56,000 They pull him out of that truck and cuff him. 971 01:01:01,000 --> 01:01:02,734 He doesn't have a gun on his person, 972 01:01:02,734 --> 01:01:05,667 so he has made the decision not to die 973 01:01:05,667 --> 01:01:07,500 and not to kill any policemen. 974 01:01:10,367 --> 01:01:12,433 [Alaniz] There's a big sense of relief 975 01:01:12,500 --> 01:01:17,233 that nobody was harmed, nobody was shot, that everything worked out. 976 01:01:24,767 --> 01:01:26,533 No, Juan. 977 01:01:26,600 --> 01:01:28,734 We're not like you. 978 01:01:28,734 --> 01:01:29,934 We don't do that. 979 01:01:41,133 --> 01:01:43,533 They immediately put him in a car, 980 01:01:43,533 --> 01:01:46,000 asked me what we wanted to do with him 981 01:01:46,000 --> 01:01:48,400 and I had him transported to the substation. 982 01:01:58,033 --> 01:01:58,934 We got him. 983 01:02:00,233 --> 01:02:02,367 We got him. Those were the first words I hear 984 01:02:02,367 --> 01:02:05,166 and I just remember saying, "Okay, you know what?" 985 01:02:05,166 --> 01:02:07,433 "Let me get ready and get over there." 986 01:02:13,867 --> 01:02:17,000 At that point, there was some degree of, you know, sleep deprivation 987 01:02:17,000 --> 01:02:20,533 but the case was too important to put on the backburner. 988 01:02:21,734 --> 01:02:24,333 I get into one of the closed circuit rooms 989 01:02:24,333 --> 01:02:28,066 and I take my seat there at the table and I'm taking notes. 990 01:02:28,066 --> 01:02:30,433 And, uh, just watching this thing play out. 991 01:02:38,133 --> 01:02:40,967 He was acting actually pretty cocky. 992 01:02:40,967 --> 01:02:44,567 He was very proud of himself that he was able to outrun the troopers 993 01:02:44,567 --> 01:02:48,166 and that gave us a little bit of insight into his personality. 994 01:02:53,767 --> 01:02:56,000 Knowing that we were dealing with another cop, 995 01:02:56,000 --> 01:02:58,300 it was going to be more of a challenge getting him to talk. 996 01:03:02,266 --> 01:03:05,934 We decided to approach him calmly and build a rapport with him. 997 01:03:17,000 --> 01:03:22,433 He begins by denying any knowledge of what they're asking him about. 998 01:03:31,467 --> 01:03:34,133 We bring out photos of the victims. 999 01:03:34,133 --> 01:03:35,934 We bring out photos of the crime scene. 1000 01:03:36,000 --> 01:03:38,333 [speaking in English] 1001 01:03:42,467 --> 01:03:46,600 We just wanna see his reaction to his work, to what he did. 1002 01:03:51,166 --> 01:03:53,533 [crumpling paper] 1003 01:03:53,600 --> 01:03:54,700 [speaking in English] 1004 01:03:59,667 --> 01:04:01,100 He said he didn't know any of 'em. 1005 01:04:01,100 --> 01:04:04,066 It was complete denial so we locked him into that denial. 1006 01:04:04,066 --> 01:04:05,700 [speaking in English] 1007 01:04:12,867 --> 01:04:15,533 I knew that this was gonna be a long night, 1008 01:04:15,600 --> 01:04:18,433 uh, based on what was... was going on. 1009 01:04:20,100 --> 01:04:21,233 [speaking in English] 1010 01:04:24,233 --> 01:04:26,634 Slowly... calmly, of course, 1011 01:04:26,700 --> 01:04:28,433 and, uh, as carefully as we could 1012 01:04:28,500 --> 01:04:32,567 we were starting to confront him with his own life. 1013 01:04:32,567 --> 01:04:34,600 [speaking in English] 1014 01:04:42,066 --> 01:04:43,800 [Isidro] We found where the gun was... 1015 01:04:45,000 --> 01:04:47,433 which was in the door panel. 1016 01:04:50,266 --> 01:04:52,834 [Joe] Calderon is pushing his buttons 1017 01:04:52,900 --> 01:04:56,133 and telling him how much they know about this case 1018 01:04:57,166 --> 01:05:00,734 and why he will not escape punishment for this. 1019 01:05:02,567 --> 01:05:05,433 You're just a killer like anybody else 1020 01:05:05,433 --> 01:05:08,100 and we're gonna hammer you flat. 1021 01:05:08,467 --> 01:05:10,233 [speaking in English] 1022 01:05:19,266 --> 01:05:21,934 You're getting past his defensive shield 1023 01:05:22,000 --> 01:05:24,033 and you're getting to him. 1024 01:05:24,033 --> 01:05:25,834 [speaking in English] 1025 01:05:33,100 --> 01:05:35,834 When he asked that question I'm thinking to myself, 1026 01:05:35,834 --> 01:05:38,066 "Take the handcuffs off. 1027 01:05:38,066 --> 01:05:40,533 Take the handcuffs off. The guy wants to... 1028 01:05:40,533 --> 01:05:41,834 He wants to talk." 1029 01:05:41,900 --> 01:05:43,533 [speaking in English] 1030 01:05:44,533 --> 01:05:46,667 I turn to everybody who's in that room and... 1031 01:05:46,667 --> 01:05:49,433 and I say, "Guys, get ready, here it comes." 1032 01:05:49,500 --> 01:05:51,934 And from there the floodgates open. 1033 01:05:51,934 --> 01:05:53,634 [speaking in English] 1034 01:05:55,467 --> 01:06:00,233 He begins to tell us that he did know Melissa 1035 01:06:01,767 --> 01:06:04,834 and that it's a person he had picked up before. 1036 01:06:04,900 --> 01:06:06,800 [speaking in English] 1037 01:06:13,667 --> 01:06:17,634 He says they would've gone and bought some heroin. 1038 01:06:21,967 --> 01:06:26,367 And she took and injected herself in his truck. 1039 01:06:26,367 --> 01:06:27,934 [speaking in English] 1040 01:06:39,033 --> 01:06:41,667 At point, he said she started coming to 1041 01:06:41,667 --> 01:06:44,567 and that she became belligerent. 1042 01:06:44,567 --> 01:06:46,066 [speaking in English] 1043 01:06:48,734 --> 01:06:50,834 He said that she was aggressive, 1044 01:06:51,367 --> 01:06:53,567 uh, she started to insult him. 1045 01:06:53,567 --> 01:06:55,233 [speaking in English] 1046 01:06:55,233 --> 01:06:58,133 He told Calderon, "She became 1047 01:06:58,467 --> 01:07:00,133 too pushy. 1048 01:07:00,934 --> 01:07:02,567 She needed to go away." 1049 01:07:02,567 --> 01:07:04,033 Well, all right, then. 1050 01:07:08,367 --> 01:07:12,133 He pulled over to let her go to the bathroom. 1051 01:07:12,133 --> 01:07:15,734 He said that at that point he saw the opportunity. 1052 01:07:15,734 --> 01:07:17,934 [speaking in English] 1053 01:07:40,100 --> 01:07:41,533 Wow. 1054 01:07:42,166 --> 01:07:43,634 Juan. 1055 01:07:43,700 --> 01:07:45,934 You're really crazy. 1056 01:07:46,000 --> 01:07:47,800 [speaking in English] 1057 01:07:54,934 --> 01:07:59,166 What happens next is what happens to all people who become killers. 1058 01:07:59,166 --> 01:08:00,934 Their appetite increases 1059 01:08:01,000 --> 01:08:04,500 and the thrill of the bloodletting is what drives them now. 1060 01:08:07,634 --> 01:08:10,166 [speaking in English] 1061 01:08:29,667 --> 01:08:32,166 So he goes, "You really wanna go there? I'll take you there." 1062 01:08:34,367 --> 01:08:36,734 As they're driving out there 1063 01:08:36,800 --> 01:08:41,166 they start to go on these desolate farm roads in the middle of nowhere. 1064 01:08:41,734 --> 01:08:43,033 She starts to get scared. 1065 01:08:43,033 --> 01:08:44,900 [speaking in English] 1066 01:08:53,066 --> 01:08:55,734 She starts pointing at him saying, "It's you. 1067 01:08:55,734 --> 01:08:57,233 It's you. You killed her." 1068 01:08:57,300 --> 01:08:58,900 [speaking in English] 1069 01:09:04,567 --> 01:09:07,367 She was trying to run away and there had been a struggle. 1070 01:09:07,367 --> 01:09:09,333 [woman 1] Let me go. Stop. 1071 01:09:09,333 --> 01:09:11,233 [gasps then moans] 1072 01:09:11,233 --> 01:09:13,066 [speaking in English] 1073 01:09:15,133 --> 01:09:19,066 To me, it was not a coincidence that Claudine was killed on the 13th. 1074 01:09:19,767 --> 01:09:22,133 [Federico] We were actively 1075 01:09:22,133 --> 01:09:24,567 at one point, looking for Claudine 1076 01:09:24,567 --> 01:09:27,934 because she may have either mentioned that she found Melissa or 1077 01:09:28,000 --> 01:09:30,367 she knows who was with Melissa. 1078 01:09:30,367 --> 01:09:32,667 It's probably why he killed her. 1079 01:09:32,667 --> 01:09:35,166 He didn't wanna take any chances. 1080 01:09:35,166 --> 01:09:36,734 [speaking in English] 1081 01:09:44,834 --> 01:09:47,033 [indistinct shouting] 1082 01:09:59,233 --> 01:10:01,333 [Isidro] After Erika escaped, 1083 01:10:01,333 --> 01:10:03,700 Juan David Ortiz goes to his home. 1084 01:10:04,233 --> 01:10:06,033 [in English] 1085 01:10:09,634 --> 01:10:11,734 He takes out an arsenal of weapons 1086 01:10:11,800 --> 01:10:14,634 expecting law enforcement to show up. 1087 01:10:14,634 --> 01:10:16,533 [in English] 1088 01:10:23,634 --> 01:10:25,634 [Isidro] Law enforcement doesn't show up. 1089 01:10:25,634 --> 01:10:29,333 He makes a decision to go out 1090 01:10:29,400 --> 01:10:30,634 and start hunting. 1091 01:10:33,767 --> 01:10:35,066 [in English] 1092 01:10:44,033 --> 01:10:48,233 He possesses his resentment towards these, uh, these workers 1093 01:10:48,300 --> 01:10:51,533 and his solution is to get rid of them. 1094 01:10:55,967 --> 01:10:58,634 He's just gonna eliminate them 'cause they don't matter. 1095 01:10:59,066 --> 01:11:00,834 They're not human. 1096 01:11:00,834 --> 01:11:03,634 They're insects and they have to be stepped on. 1097 01:11:03,634 --> 01:11:05,000 Wow. 1098 01:11:05,734 --> 01:11:07,900 [in English] 1099 01:11:13,634 --> 01:11:16,066 [Isidro] Ends up being Guiselda Cantu. 1100 01:11:16,066 --> 01:11:20,867 He drives north on I-35, he exits around the 22 mile marker 1101 01:11:20,867 --> 01:11:23,166 and tells her to get off his truck. 1102 01:11:24,734 --> 01:11:26,934 [in English] 1103 01:11:30,166 --> 01:11:31,967 He tells her that he's the one 1104 01:11:31,967 --> 01:11:34,166 who's been killing the prostitutes. 1105 01:11:36,166 --> 01:11:37,533 [in English] 1106 01:11:46,934 --> 01:11:49,100 [Isidro] He describes how she turns around 1107 01:11:49,100 --> 01:11:53,667 and tells him, "You don't have to do this. 1108 01:11:53,667 --> 01:11:56,967 You're a good person. I wanna pray with you." 1109 01:11:56,967 --> 01:11:59,333 [in English] 1110 01:12:04,734 --> 01:12:06,000 He loses his temper because 1111 01:12:06,000 --> 01:12:07,400 she's trying to talk him out of it. 1112 01:12:08,166 --> 01:12:10,333 [in English] 1113 01:12:22,166 --> 01:12:24,333 [in English] 1114 01:12:28,166 --> 01:12:30,367 I think he was gonna kill her the whole time. 1115 01:12:30,367 --> 01:12:32,233 I think that's just, uh, 1116 01:12:32,300 --> 01:12:34,233 a fact that he interjected, 1117 01:12:34,233 --> 01:12:37,734 uh, in order to minimize his culpability. 1118 01:12:40,166 --> 01:12:42,734 [Joe] All of his conversations are designed 1119 01:12:42,800 --> 01:12:46,166 to minimize his involvement in something evil 1120 01:12:46,166 --> 01:12:49,400 because it isn't evil, it's the right thing to do. 1121 01:12:50,233 --> 01:12:52,400 And I had the courage to do it. 1122 01:12:53,567 --> 01:12:55,100 Swell. 1123 01:12:57,533 --> 01:12:59,133 [in English] 1124 01:13:09,266 --> 01:13:10,433 [Isidro] At that point in time 1125 01:13:10,433 --> 01:13:13,433 the proverbial question is... is posed... 1126 01:13:13,433 --> 01:13:15,033 Is there anyone else? 1127 01:13:15,033 --> 01:13:16,934 And Juan David Ortiz says... 1128 01:13:17,266 --> 01:13:19,266 [in English] 1129 01:13:19,266 --> 01:13:22,033 "...There's one more that you guys don't know about." 1130 01:13:27,266 --> 01:13:28,400 Oh, my. 1131 01:13:33,934 --> 01:13:38,433 Juan David Ortiz has admitted to killing three women. 1132 01:13:38,433 --> 01:13:41,634 But then he tells Calderon there is a fourth victim 1133 01:13:41,634 --> 01:13:43,433 that he doesn't know about. 1134 01:13:43,667 --> 01:13:45,634 [in English] 1135 01:13:46,934 --> 01:13:48,734 As soon as he started saying the location 1136 01:13:48,734 --> 01:13:50,233 and where he left that person, 1137 01:13:50,300 --> 01:13:52,433 uh, they took off to go verify. 1138 01:13:52,433 --> 01:13:55,634 [Isidro] It was a 13 miles north of Laredo. 1139 01:13:56,533 --> 01:13:59,767 There was a gravel mound of asphalt 1140 01:13:59,767 --> 01:14:02,133 and over to the right in the tall, green grass 1141 01:14:02,133 --> 01:14:03,634 they were gonna find the body. 1142 01:14:06,467 --> 01:14:10,266 [Joe] The victim is 20-year-old Janelle Ortiz. 1143 01:14:10,266 --> 01:14:12,433 No relation to the suspect. 1144 01:14:14,767 --> 01:14:18,333 She is transgender and she has been shot in the head. 1145 01:14:18,967 --> 01:14:22,033 My name is Rosenda Ortiz 1146 01:14:22,033 --> 01:14:25,967 and I am Janelle's younger sister. 1147 01:14:25,967 --> 01:14:31,867 September 16th, I get that call that you don't expect to hear. 1148 01:14:31,867 --> 01:14:34,734 That it is Janelle. 1149 01:14:36,033 --> 01:14:39,634 And my... I just broke down. I couldn't 1150 01:14:40,066 --> 01:14:42,533 handle what I heard. 1151 01:14:45,367 --> 01:14:47,800 Janelle was 9 years older than me. 1152 01:14:48,367 --> 01:14:50,634 Growing up in her teen years, 1153 01:14:50,700 --> 01:14:53,834 she was already transitioning. 1154 01:14:53,834 --> 01:14:56,533 She didn't care what other people thought about her. 1155 01:14:58,166 --> 01:15:01,834 She was really outgoing, she had a lot of friends. 1156 01:15:01,834 --> 01:15:05,634 She was just that type of person that you can go up to 1157 01:15:05,700 --> 01:15:08,667 when you needed a hug, 1158 01:15:08,667 --> 01:15:11,834 you needed someone to talk to. 1159 01:15:11,834 --> 01:15:13,934 Just someone that was there. 1160 01:15:14,667 --> 01:15:17,734 I just had that bond with her 1161 01:15:17,734 --> 01:15:20,133 that I will never have with no other. 1162 01:15:28,033 --> 01:15:29,934 [in English] 1163 01:15:37,667 --> 01:15:40,166 [Federico] He picked up Janelle Ortiz. 1164 01:15:40,166 --> 01:15:43,934 He said that he started driving... north 1165 01:15:44,734 --> 01:15:46,233 toward I-35. 1166 01:15:46,734 --> 01:15:48,934 [in English] 1167 01:16:06,867 --> 01:16:11,233 [Isidro] Janelle Ortiz asks Juan David Ortiz, 1168 01:16:11,767 --> 01:16:13,734 "You're gonna kill me, right?" 1169 01:16:16,000 --> 01:16:18,934 And Juan David Ortiz looks at Janelle and says, "Yeah." 1170 01:16:21,100 --> 01:16:24,100 [Federico] He said that he was surprised that he didn't get any fight 1171 01:16:24,100 --> 01:16:25,634 out of, uh, Janelle Ortiz. 1172 01:16:25,634 --> 01:16:26,767 [Juan] Get out of the truck. 1173 01:16:26,767 --> 01:16:29,333 [Isidro] And he pulls into the 13-mile marker. 1174 01:16:29,333 --> 01:16:33,166 Janelle gets out, Juan David Ortiz walks around his truck, 1175 01:16:33,166 --> 01:16:35,233 stands behind Janelle... 1176 01:16:35,233 --> 01:16:36,533 [Juan] Turn around. 1177 01:16:38,667 --> 01:16:40,634 [in English] 1178 01:16:46,000 --> 01:16:47,934 ...gets back in his truck, 1179 01:16:49,066 --> 01:16:52,233 drives back to San Bernardo. 1180 01:16:52,233 --> 01:16:54,100 He leaves her body right there. 1181 01:16:57,467 --> 01:17:01,100 Mr. Ortiz kills two women in less than two hours. 1182 01:17:01,100 --> 01:17:02,834 He has to kill more. 1183 01:17:02,900 --> 01:17:05,433 He's not satisfied yet. 1184 01:17:05,433 --> 01:17:08,166 He was gonna keep cleaning up the streets quote-unquote, 1185 01:17:08,166 --> 01:17:09,467 until somebody stopped him. 1186 01:17:09,467 --> 01:17:11,233 [in English] 1187 01:17:11,233 --> 01:17:14,800 And luckily those troopers were at the right place at the right time that night. 1188 01:17:16,634 --> 01:17:18,800 [in English] 1189 01:17:23,000 --> 01:17:26,634 It was something I've never seen before, 1190 01:17:26,700 --> 01:17:31,467 never in 28 years seen something play out the way it did, 1191 01:17:31,467 --> 01:17:36,066 as... as descriptive and as animated as he was. 1192 01:17:36,967 --> 01:17:38,333 Boom. 1193 01:17:39,133 --> 01:17:40,834 Boom, boom. 1194 01:17:40,900 --> 01:17:43,233 [Joe] The question always becomes 1195 01:17:43,300 --> 01:17:45,333 "Why did this happen?" 1196 01:17:45,400 --> 01:17:48,333 Men that hate prostitutes, in my humble opinion 1197 01:17:48,333 --> 01:17:50,333 because they hate themselves 1198 01:17:50,834 --> 01:17:52,834 for doing what they do. 1199 01:17:53,867 --> 01:17:56,233 To engage in sex for money. 1200 01:17:57,266 --> 01:18:00,934 He made a comment the monster in him came out. 1201 01:18:02,734 --> 01:18:05,000 I disagree, Mr. Ortiz. 1202 01:18:05,367 --> 01:18:07,333 You are the monster. 1203 01:18:07,333 --> 01:18:09,333 It's not inside you. 1204 01:18:10,333 --> 01:18:12,000 It is you. 1205 01:18:16,667 --> 01:18:20,667 When we found out that they had gotten the suspect. 1206 01:18:20,667 --> 01:18:24,567 It was just shocking news for us to know that it was the Border Patrol. 1207 01:18:24,567 --> 01:18:28,600 Someone that, supposedly, we need to feel protected. 1208 01:18:30,567 --> 01:18:32,166 [Ciara] I really was just so in shock. 1209 01:18:32,166 --> 01:18:35,133 Like, I couldn't believe, like, it was a Border Patrol agent. 1210 01:18:35,133 --> 01:18:38,333 I couldn't fathom it. I was just so distraught. 1211 01:18:38,967 --> 01:18:42,100 It was really really surreal. 1212 01:18:42,100 --> 01:18:45,734 That just... like, threw me over, like 1213 01:18:45,800 --> 01:18:47,367 "What do you mean it's a Border Patrol agent?" 1214 01:18:47,367 --> 01:18:48,634 It was hard to grasp. 1215 01:18:51,767 --> 01:18:54,567 After all the carnage that 1216 01:18:54,567 --> 01:18:56,767 Juan David Ortiz left behind, 1217 01:18:56,767 --> 01:19:00,066 Melissa Ramirez's mom is interviewed 1218 01:19:00,066 --> 01:19:03,934 and she comes out there and says, "I'm not in favor of the death penalty." 1219 01:19:04,967 --> 01:19:07,500 [speaking in other language] 1220 01:19:28,367 --> 01:19:30,767 [Isidro in English] For him it was worth going to trial 1221 01:19:30,767 --> 01:19:34,233 so that he could maybe get a lesser charge 1222 01:19:34,233 --> 01:19:37,433 and ultimately a lesser sentence. 1223 01:19:37,500 --> 01:19:39,734 [Colette] It was scary walking into that courtroom 1224 01:19:39,734 --> 01:19:42,634 finally seeing him, who he was. 1225 01:19:43,367 --> 01:19:46,634 I felt the urge to scream so loud. 1226 01:19:46,634 --> 01:19:49,567 But I couldn't. I just sat there and looked at him 1227 01:19:49,567 --> 01:19:51,967 and my tears kept rolling down. 1228 01:19:51,967 --> 01:19:53,500 [speaking in other language] 1229 01:19:59,166 --> 01:20:00,734 [in English] 1230 01:20:05,767 --> 01:20:10,533 We were able to transport, if you will, the jury 1231 01:20:10,533 --> 01:20:15,233 to the last moments of these victims' deaths. 1232 01:20:15,233 --> 01:20:17,734 We also put 'em in the interview room 1233 01:20:17,734 --> 01:20:21,533 with the Texas Ranger and Captain Calderon. 1234 01:20:23,367 --> 01:20:25,000 [in other language] 1235 01:20:28,567 --> 01:20:30,400 [Federico in English] Erika was part of the trial... 1236 01:20:32,266 --> 01:20:35,634 and, uh, she had a very important role to play. 1237 01:20:35,700 --> 01:20:37,834 [in English] 1238 01:20:47,266 --> 01:20:52,333 Because of her, uh, we were able to bring justice to the rest of the families. 1239 01:20:52,400 --> 01:20:55,433 [Ciara] Like, I hugged her, I cried with her. 1240 01:20:55,433 --> 01:20:57,100 Like, she's our hero, you know, 1241 01:20:57,100 --> 01:21:00,700 and she's so strong. I don't have the right words to thank her. 1242 01:21:02,734 --> 01:21:04,734 -[man 1] Was it a unanimous verdict? -[woman 1] Yes, it was. 1243 01:21:04,800 --> 01:21:06,900 [man 1] Can you please hand the verdict form to the bailiff? 1244 01:21:09,634 --> 01:21:13,834 Verdict form, "We the jury find the defendant, Juan David Ortiz guilty 1245 01:21:13,834 --> 01:21:16,433 of the offense of Capital Murder as charged in the indictment 1246 01:21:16,433 --> 01:21:18,400 and as instructed in this charge. 1247 01:21:19,834 --> 01:21:22,033 The jury was able to arrive 1248 01:21:22,033 --> 01:21:27,100 at him being guilty of Capital Murder, life without parole. 1249 01:21:27,100 --> 01:21:29,433 So long, Mr. Ortiz. 1250 01:21:29,500 --> 01:21:31,367 Let's lock you up in a box 1251 01:21:31,367 --> 01:21:34,533 and feed you bologna sandwiches for the rest of your life 1252 01:21:34,600 --> 01:21:35,967 and see what you think of that. 1253 01:21:39,367 --> 01:21:44,734 I was feeling so relieved. I was like, "Thank God, justice was served." 1254 01:21:44,800 --> 01:21:49,233 [Rosenda] I felt just relieved after we got our justice. 1255 01:21:49,233 --> 01:21:53,100 Like, this really left my chest. 1256 01:21:53,767 --> 01:21:56,166 We got the verdict we wanted. 1257 01:21:56,166 --> 01:21:59,834 But he ruined our lives. He changed everything, you know. 1258 01:22:00,367 --> 01:22:03,200 He caused, like, so much trauma. 1259 01:22:04,066 --> 01:22:05,900 [in other language] 1260 01:22:20,634 --> 01:22:24,867 [in English] Regardless of what JD Ortiz thought about these people, 1261 01:22:24,867 --> 01:22:29,066 they are mothers, they're sisters, they're daughters 1262 01:22:29,066 --> 01:22:33,333 and nobody deserves to get treated the way they were treated 1263 01:22:33,400 --> 01:22:35,433 regardless of their lifestyle. 1264 01:22:37,266 --> 01:22:40,166 Melissa was just the best mother that she could be 1265 01:22:40,166 --> 01:22:41,867 for her kids. 1266 01:22:41,867 --> 01:22:46,734 It saddens me a lot the way people just judge you. 1267 01:22:47,867 --> 01:22:51,367 In life, we're not always gonna make the right decisions 1268 01:22:51,367 --> 01:22:56,233 and sadly weakness can take control on a person. 1269 01:22:56,300 --> 01:23:00,467 And yes, Claudine took her life to the streets 1270 01:23:00,467 --> 01:23:02,433 but it didn't define her. 1271 01:23:02,433 --> 01:23:06,367 She had her children, she had her family who loved her. 1272 01:23:06,367 --> 01:23:08,967 [Ciara] You know, my mom was such a beautiful soul, like, 1273 01:23:08,967 --> 01:23:12,533 we all have our vices, like, she wasn't a bad person. 1274 01:23:14,767 --> 01:23:18,433 I try to do everything with love the way she did. 1275 01:23:19,834 --> 01:23:23,433 [Rosenda] Janelle still pops up in my dreams. 1276 01:23:23,433 --> 01:23:26,166 It's just a reminder, you know, that she is 1277 01:23:26,166 --> 01:23:28,200 out there looking out for us. 1278 01:23:28,967 --> 01:23:30,634 I love you, Janelle. 1279 01:23:32,233 --> 01:23:33,900 You're always in my heart. 1280 01:23:37,867 --> 01:23:41,533 No one is above the law. 1281 01:23:41,533 --> 01:23:45,433 And no one is below the law in the state of Texas. 1282 01:23:45,433 --> 01:23:47,166 -[man 1] Court's adjourned. -[gavel bangs] 1283 01:23:47,166 --> 01:23:50,000 We were able to expose JD Ortiz. 1284 01:23:50,000 --> 01:23:53,266 People like him need to be stopped and 1285 01:23:53,266 --> 01:23:57,634 luckily, there are police all over the country who are willing to do the job. 1286 01:24:00,467 --> 01:24:03,734 Good police work thinks, rethinks, 1287 01:24:03,800 --> 01:24:06,133 restarts, reengages. 1288 01:24:06,133 --> 01:24:07,834 Always looking. 1289 01:24:07,834 --> 01:24:09,934 And Federico Calderon 1290 01:24:10,567 --> 01:24:12,400 is an example of that. 1291 01:24:13,367 --> 01:24:15,100 You don't believe that? 1292 01:24:15,100 --> 01:24:18,500 Ask Juan David Ortiz if he believes that. 1293 01:24:21,367 --> 01:24:23,166 This season on American Detective... 1294 01:24:23,166 --> 01:24:25,867 There are moments in criminal investigations 1295 01:24:25,867 --> 01:24:28,734 that a bad feeling comes over you. 1296 01:24:28,800 --> 01:24:30,133 These are monsters. 1297 01:24:30,133 --> 01:24:32,533 You look into your eyes and... 1298 01:24:32,600 --> 01:24:35,233 ...you know, you're coming up zeroes. 1299 01:24:36,667 --> 01:24:38,634 That's not just a red light... 1300 01:24:38,634 --> 01:24:40,967 that's a solar flare. 1301 01:24:40,967 --> 01:24:44,066 It looked like something you would see in a horror film. 1302 01:24:45,066 --> 01:24:47,033 I have never seen a body that destroyed. 1303 01:24:47,033 --> 01:24:49,333 Just when you think you've seen the worst in somebody 1304 01:24:49,400 --> 01:24:51,767 the next person is like, "Hold my beer." 1305 01:24:51,767 --> 01:24:54,533 A passenger in her car had been abducted. 1306 01:24:54,533 --> 01:24:57,834 What if our killer is a cop? 1307 01:24:59,033 --> 01:25:01,533 She said, "Please tell me it's not true." 1308 01:25:01,533 --> 01:25:03,967 "Tell me Melissa's house is not on fire." 1309 01:25:03,967 --> 01:25:07,000 When you get information that there is a child missing 1310 01:25:07,000 --> 01:25:09,033 it knocks the wind out of you. 1311 01:25:09,033 --> 01:25:10,934 There is freshly fallen snow 1312 01:25:10,934 --> 01:25:13,967 and there is no physical evidence to be seen. 1313 01:25:13,967 --> 01:25:16,734 If you think this is going to end well, 1314 01:25:16,800 --> 01:25:20,233 you're sorely mistaken, my dear.