US border patrol agent charged after ‘two-week killing spree’ – By Sky News Staff (news.sky.com) / Sept 16 2018
Juan David Ortiz, 35, is also suspected of kidnapping a fifth woman who allegedly managed to escape before alerting Texas police.
A US border patrol agent has been charged with murder following what police have called a two-week serial killing spree that left four prostitutes dead.
A fifth woman escaped at a petrol station and alerted police, which led to Juan David Ortiz being arrested.
The 35-year-old suspect, an intel supervisor for the Border Patrol, was found hiding in a car park in Laredo, Texas, at around 2am after he initially fled police on Saturday.
He is alleged to have carried out the killings from 3 September.
He has been charged with four counts of murder as well as aggravated assault and unlawful restraint.
Webb County District Attorney Isidro Alaniz said: “We do consider this to be a serial killer.”
Mr Alaniz said that after the suspect picked up the fifth woman she quickly realised that she was in danger.
“When she tried to escape from him at a gas station that’s when she ran into a (state) trooper,” Mr Alaniz said.
Image: Ortiz was arrested by police in the Texas city of Laredo. File pic
Mr Alaniz said investigators are still trying to determine a motive for the killings, and that they think Ortiz acted alone.
He said two of the victims were US citizens but the nationalities of the other two were not yet known.
All of them were working as prostitutes and one was a transgender woman, he said.
The bodies of two them were discovered earlier this month along Interstate 35 in rural northwest Webb County, according to reports.
The third and fourth were found in the same area this weekend.
Andrew Meehan, a senior US Customs and Border Protection official, said in a statement that the agency was co-operating fully with investigators.
His statement added: “Our sincerest condolences go out to the victims’ family and friends.
Ortiz had worked at the Border Patrol for 10 years.
