WEBVTT 1 00:00:07.679 --> 00:00:11.080 You are now listening to True Murder, The most shocking 2 00:00:11.160 --> 00:00:14.199 killers in true crime history and the authors that have 3 00:00:14.279 --> 00:00:20.359 written about them Gaesy, Bundy, Dahmer, The Night Stalker DTK. 4 00:00:21.239 --> 00:00:25.079 Every week another fascinating author talking about the most shocking 5 00:00:25.199 --> 00:00:29.359 and infamous killers in true crime history. True Murder with 6 00:00:29.399 --> 00:00:33.399 your host journalist and author Dan Zupanski. 7 00:00:39.719 --> 00:00:46.920 Good Evening. Melissa Ramirez, Claudine and Luerra, Giselda Hernandez, and 8 00:00:47.079 --> 00:00:52.000 Janelle Ortiz were four marginalized women striving to make ends 9 00:00:52.039 --> 00:00:56.280 meet as sex workers. They looked out for one another, 10 00:00:56.960 --> 00:00:59.560 but they would soon share a connection that none of 11 00:00:59.600 --> 00:01:03.600 them could have imagined. When Melissa was found dead, the 12 00:01:03.679 --> 00:01:07.799 other three women were on edge but assumed they were safe. 13 00:01:08.439 --> 00:01:11.719 Twelve days later, they too were dead, and police had 14 00:01:11.760 --> 00:01:17.599 detained an unlikely suspect, Juan David Ortiz, a ten year 15 00:01:17.719 --> 00:01:21.519 veteran of the US Customs and Border Protection, where he 16 00:01:21.599 --> 00:01:25.680 carried a badge, a service revolver and was entrusted to 17 00:01:25.719 --> 00:01:30.359 protect the community in which he eventually killed. From September 18 00:01:30.400 --> 00:01:36.000 three through September fifteenth, twenty eighteen, Ortees, a husband and 19 00:01:36.079 --> 00:01:40.319 doting father to three children, lured his victims into his 20 00:01:40.400 --> 00:01:43.640 white Dodge truck and drove them to the outskirts of town, 21 00:01:44.200 --> 00:01:48.640 where he violently executed them, leaving them dead or dying 22 00:01:48.799 --> 00:01:53.760 on the sides of dark rural roads. In this fast paced, 23 00:01:53.920 --> 00:02:00.000 electrifying TikTok Pulitzer Prize winning USA Today journalist Rick Jervis 24 00:02:00.560 --> 00:02:04.120 tells the gripping story of the four murders that shook 25 00:02:04.200 --> 00:02:08.000 the small border town of Laredo and the quest to 26 00:02:08.159 --> 00:02:12.719 unmask a cold, calculated killer who was hiding in plain sight. 27 00:02:13.599 --> 00:02:17.199 The Devil Behind the Badge is also a deeply human 28 00:02:17.319 --> 00:02:22.479 portrait of the four lives lost and an attempt to 29 00:02:22.639 --> 00:02:28.479 uncover what motivated or teases descent into darkness. Along the way, 30 00:02:28.919 --> 00:02:33.000 it raises serious questions about the border crisis, the abuse 31 00:02:33.080 --> 00:02:36.599 of law enforcement, and the challenges of a federal agency 32 00:02:37.039 --> 00:02:41.680 to police its own ranks. The book that we're featuring 33 00:02:41.680 --> 00:02:46.080 this evening is The Devil Behind the Badge, The horrifying 34 00:02:46.159 --> 00:02:50.120 twelve Days of the Border Patrol Serial Killer, with my 35 00:02:50.360 --> 00:02:57.840 special guest, USA Today journalist and author Rick Jervis. Welcome 36 00:02:57.879 --> 00:02:59.759 to the program, and thank you very much for this 37 00:03:00.159 --> 00:03:06.800 you Rick Jervis, thank you, Dan, thank you, and congratulations 38 00:03:06.960 --> 00:03:10.159 on your book. The devil behind the badge. 39 00:03:11.400 --> 00:03:14.000 Thanks Anne, appreciate it and great to be here. 40 00:03:15.240 --> 00:03:19.719 Let's start with as you do in part one introduced 41 00:03:19.800 --> 00:03:24.840 Pat and Nora Roth, the relax In and Laredo and 42 00:03:25.039 --> 00:03:28.680 San Bernardo Avenue as you do in your book. 43 00:03:29.639 --> 00:03:31.960 So this is where the bulk of the book takes place. 44 00:03:32.360 --> 00:03:35.680 It's a stretch called San Bernando Avenue and San Bernando 45 00:03:35.800 --> 00:03:41.080 is a is a several miles stretch of avenue running 46 00:03:41.120 --> 00:03:43.960 downtown Laredo, and it's kind of known as the red 47 00:03:44.039 --> 00:03:47.680 Light district. It's where a lot of the sex workers populate, 48 00:03:47.879 --> 00:03:51.120 it's where some of the drug dealing houses are. And 49 00:03:51.240 --> 00:03:55.520 paternor Roth like in my book, Patana Roth kind of 50 00:03:55.560 --> 00:04:00.879 introduces to Sabernando. That's an interesting character. He he's from Texas. 51 00:04:00.879 --> 00:04:07.039 Originally he marries he marries Nora, who is a Mexican immigrant, 52 00:04:07.319 --> 00:04:15.280 and together they basically move from McCallen, Texas to like Laredo, 53 00:04:15.360 --> 00:04:20.560 Texas and then Laredo. He is basically charged with running 54 00:04:20.600 --> 00:04:24.360 this like motel called the relax In, and the relax 55 00:04:24.439 --> 00:04:27.160 In is one of several of these kind of like 56 00:04:27.399 --> 00:04:33.319 low nightly rate motels along the avenue. It's a relax in. 57 00:04:34.040 --> 00:04:38.759 It's the Pan American Cords, it's the La Loma Mortel 58 00:04:39.120 --> 00:04:43.040 and Sotel, and so these are the motels where where 59 00:04:43.079 --> 00:04:46.399 a lot of these sex workers used to do their 60 00:04:47.079 --> 00:04:51.600 their transactions. And so Pat is basically brought in to 61 00:04:51.720 --> 00:04:54.360 like run this, to run this motel. He doesn't know 62 00:04:54.399 --> 00:04:56.120 what he's getting into. He thinks he's just kind of 63 00:04:56.160 --> 00:05:00.720 running a sort of straight shot, straight shot motel, and 64 00:05:01.759 --> 00:05:05.800 before long basically realizes that there's not only a lot 65 00:05:05.839 --> 00:05:09.839 of sex workers coming in and out of this sexual motel, 66 00:05:10.240 --> 00:05:13.000 but also, you know, a lot of drug dealing going on, 67 00:05:13.360 --> 00:05:16.920 a lot of people taking drugs on his property and 68 00:05:17.240 --> 00:05:19.920 starts to sort of clean it up and wants to 69 00:05:19.959 --> 00:05:24.120 sort of clean up there, to relax in and make 70 00:05:24.160 --> 00:05:27.560 it a more so legit business. So he kind of 71 00:05:27.600 --> 00:05:29.720 chases away a lot of the drug dealers, a lot 72 00:05:29.759 --> 00:05:34.360 of the drug users there, bans them from his property. 73 00:05:34.839 --> 00:05:40.120 But he takes a liking to for women, specifically Melissa Ramirez, 74 00:05:40.519 --> 00:05:48.439 Claudine Vuerda, Janelle Ortiz, and Shelley. Shelley come too, and 75 00:05:48.480 --> 00:05:53.079 these for women are all friends, they're all sex workers. 76 00:05:53.480 --> 00:05:56.279 Pat and Noor kind of overlooked that and let them 77 00:05:56.319 --> 00:06:01.480 stay at the motel. They basically charm him, and that's 78 00:06:01.480 --> 00:06:04.639 how we get an introduction to San Bonnando Avenue and 79 00:06:04.680 --> 00:06:08.759 these four women who are friends, and all of them 80 00:06:08.839 --> 00:06:13.040 have really bad drug addictions. Most of them are like 81 00:06:13.079 --> 00:06:16.160 addicted to heroin, black tar heroin, which is really popular 82 00:06:16.160 --> 00:06:20.879 there like in Norrato area, also crack the cane and 83 00:06:20.959 --> 00:06:25.399 other drugs. Through Pat's eyes, we basically learn about these 84 00:06:25.439 --> 00:06:29.040 four women and about all these things happening on San 85 00:06:29.079 --> 00:06:30.079 Bonnando Avenue. 86 00:06:31.240 --> 00:06:36.120 You introduce one of these four women, Melissa Ramerez, and 87 00:06:36.160 --> 00:06:40.639 you also introduce her friend Emily Verella and who stays 88 00:06:40.680 --> 00:06:43.079 at the Pan American Courts as you mentioned, another one 89 00:06:43.079 --> 00:06:45.920 of the hotels similar to the relax In and her 90 00:06:45.959 --> 00:06:52.040 mother Christina. So introduce Melissa Ramerez and her family and 91 00:06:52.079 --> 00:06:56.120 what happens. August thirty first, twenty and eighteen. 92 00:06:57.240 --> 00:07:04.399 Melissa Ramerez comes from a suburb of like Laredo, Carrio Bravo. 93 00:07:04.639 --> 00:07:09.480 It's it's just outside of Laredo. She's one of three 94 00:07:09.639 --> 00:07:14.839 children who are raised by Christina Benavidez, who is a 95 00:07:14.879 --> 00:07:20.759 Mexican national living in Texas. And Christina Bnavidas loves her 96 00:07:20.839 --> 00:07:25.160 kids raises them as good as she can low income family, 97 00:07:25.480 --> 00:07:30.319 but starting around middle school or so, Melissa starts to 98 00:07:30.560 --> 00:07:35.360 mingle with the wrong crowd. She has episodes of like 99 00:07:35.480 --> 00:07:41.079 anxiety and manic depression and starts to dabble into drugs 100 00:07:41.439 --> 00:07:44.959 taken xanax and other things like before you know it, 101 00:07:45.079 --> 00:07:49.920 she is she's she's basically self medicating because she has 102 00:07:50.040 --> 00:07:52.920 all of these anxieties. It turns out later we basically 103 00:07:53.040 --> 00:07:56.519 learned later that she was sexually assaulted when she was 104 00:07:56.600 --> 00:08:00.399 very little and that could have added to her I'm 105 00:08:00.439 --> 00:08:04.800 going to depression and like anxiety. She makes a friend 106 00:08:04.839 --> 00:08:11.120 there with basically now Emily is born Amelia Barella. He 107 00:08:11.240 --> 00:08:15.959 is she. She actually transitions into a woman later, but 108 00:08:16.240 --> 00:08:21.360 when Melissa first meets him, he's Emilio and they and 109 00:08:21.399 --> 00:08:26.680 they really become friends. Melio is also struggling with his 110 00:08:26.720 --> 00:08:31.439 own gender identity, his own sexuality, and it's actually Melissa 111 00:08:31.639 --> 00:08:35.000 who who helps him out and like tells him that 112 00:08:35.120 --> 00:08:39.399 it's okay to to feel the feelings that he's feeling, 113 00:08:40.080 --> 00:08:45.360 and sooner enough, Meelee becomes Emily and both of them 114 00:08:45.399 --> 00:08:49.919 become really good friends. They don't they don't ever finish 115 00:08:49.960 --> 00:08:52.279 high school, they basically drop out of high school and 116 00:08:52.360 --> 00:08:56.720 they start and they start hanging out together. Fortunately, both 117 00:08:56.720 --> 00:09:01.559 of them are are really struggling with really strong grug addictions, 118 00:09:01.679 --> 00:09:04.080 so they hit the Avenue, which is what a lot 119 00:09:04.120 --> 00:09:07.200 of people are there do. Once they have these really 120 00:09:07.200 --> 00:09:12.480 strong drug addictions, they go to San Bernardo. Melissa starts 121 00:09:12.759 --> 00:09:18.159 starts starts becoming a sex worker, as does Emily, and 122 00:09:18.559 --> 00:09:23.200 together they start hanging out. They stayed with one another 123 00:09:23.440 --> 00:09:27.480 at Pan American Courts, at the Pan American Courts motel, 124 00:09:27.519 --> 00:09:29.960 which is one of the other motels there on San Bernado, 125 00:09:30.960 --> 00:09:36.320 and they're living together when on in September twenty eighteen, 126 00:09:36.879 --> 00:09:42.279 September third, twenty eighteenth to be exact, Melissa and Emily 127 00:09:42.320 --> 00:09:46.000 get into kind of a disagreement over over rent and 128 00:09:46.080 --> 00:09:51.600 over her lack of of sort of contribution towards the 129 00:09:51.600 --> 00:09:56.000 motel room. And like Melissa leaves in the middle of 130 00:09:56.000 --> 00:09:58.639 the night, and that's the last time Emily sees her alive. 131 00:09:59.240 --> 00:10:03.080 Her body years later found later that day in a 132 00:10:03.200 --> 00:10:06.919 rural stretch of road outside of Laredo in the northwest 133 00:10:06.960 --> 00:10:14.440 corner of Webb County. And that's the beginning of several 134 00:10:14.519 --> 00:10:18.200 murders where it starts to pop up around Web County. 135 00:10:20.480 --> 00:10:26.279 Let's go back to just just before September twenty eighteen. 136 00:10:26.759 --> 00:10:30.320 You're right of August thirty first, and Melissa's mother, Christina, 137 00:10:30.960 --> 00:10:35.879 happens to meet because Melissa's at her mother's house and 138 00:10:35.919 --> 00:10:39.679 involved with her mother and her family despite her prostitution, 139 00:10:40.480 --> 00:10:44.600 Christina meets a man that is new to her daughter 140 00:10:44.720 --> 00:10:48.919 named David Garza. And you write that Christina at that 141 00:10:49.000 --> 00:10:52.919 time felt something was wrong when she met this man. 142 00:10:54.840 --> 00:10:58.559 Just a couple of days before, like Melissa disappears and 143 00:10:58.879 --> 00:11:01.720 ends up, you know, murdered on the side of the road. 144 00:11:02.600 --> 00:11:05.879 She actually comes home to her mom's house in Rio Bravo. 145 00:11:06.360 --> 00:11:09.759 Her mom lives in a like a trailer, and like 146 00:11:09.840 --> 00:11:14.320 Melissa brings home this person that she introduces to her 147 00:11:14.360 --> 00:11:18.799 mother just as a friend, David Gottison. He's significantly older 148 00:11:18.840 --> 00:11:22.480 than she is, like at the time, Melissa's twenty nine 149 00:11:22.519 --> 00:11:27.799 years old. The man is in his fifties or late forties. 150 00:11:28.559 --> 00:11:32.480 He comes in, He comes into the trailer, sits down 151 00:11:32.519 --> 00:11:36.039 on the couch and doesn't say a word, and Christina 152 00:11:36.080 --> 00:11:41.559 Benavitez is unnerved by him. He feels like like something's off. 153 00:11:42.000 --> 00:11:45.320 It's like something's off with him, something strange. She finally 154 00:11:45.360 --> 00:11:49.159 like makes some sort of introduce himself to her, and 155 00:11:49.480 --> 00:11:52.279 she does, but he doesn't say a lot. He just 156 00:11:52.360 --> 00:11:56.960 kind of sits on the couch quietly as Melissa, you know, 157 00:11:57.159 --> 00:12:00.960 sort of continues to get ready in another room, and 158 00:12:01.000 --> 00:12:04.879 when she finally comes out, they basically leave together. She 159 00:12:05.320 --> 00:12:08.480 tells her mom not to worry, and they drive off 160 00:12:08.879 --> 00:12:14.480 in David's truck. It's all very strange to to like Christina, 161 00:12:14.679 --> 00:12:17.360 and it lingers in her mind for quite some time, 162 00:12:17.519 --> 00:12:19.559 for like a number of days afterwards, because that's the 163 00:12:19.639 --> 00:12:22.919 last time that she would see her daughter alive. 164 00:12:23.679 --> 00:12:26.159 Let's get back to this crime scene where you say 165 00:12:26.840 --> 00:12:30.519 someone discovers this body. What is found that the crime 166 00:12:30.559 --> 00:12:33.759 scene that is of particular interest to police. 167 00:12:35.440 --> 00:12:39.879 So at the crime scene, her her body is is 168 00:12:40.679 --> 00:12:46.320 found both first first by a passerby just a someone 169 00:12:46.320 --> 00:12:50.600 who happens to be in the area notices Melissa's body 170 00:12:50.639 --> 00:12:52.679 like on the side of the road. And then later 171 00:12:53.320 --> 00:12:56.919 the person knocks on a knocks on a door. Actually, 172 00:12:56.960 --> 00:12:59.600 let me let me back up there. The body is 173 00:12:59.639 --> 00:13:01.759 found on the side of the road by a passer. 174 00:13:01.799 --> 00:13:04.919 By the passer by alerts one of the neighbors there 175 00:13:05.159 --> 00:13:10.639 who calls police. Police is actually police, say that they're 176 00:13:10.639 --> 00:13:13.519 on their way. Since it's outside of the Laredo city limits. 177 00:13:13.600 --> 00:13:18.720 It's the Web County Sheriff's office, which where chances is 178 00:13:18.720 --> 00:13:24.360 the actual call. As they're waiting for the for the 179 00:13:24.399 --> 00:13:29.360 sheriff's deputies to show up, another car comes, gets kind 180 00:13:29.360 --> 00:13:33.080 of close, pulls up, and then does kind of a 181 00:13:33.080 --> 00:13:36.840 three point turn and drives away. Now this actually strikes 182 00:13:36.879 --> 00:13:41.279 as strange to the neighbor and the passer by there, 183 00:13:41.759 --> 00:13:46.919 and the passer by waiting for deputies there, they kind 184 00:13:46.960 --> 00:13:49.320 of sense that that might somehow be kind of related 185 00:13:49.399 --> 00:13:52.000 to this incident. So what they do is that they 186 00:13:52.039 --> 00:13:54.679 get into the car, they kind of follow the car around, 187 00:13:54.960 --> 00:13:59.000 jot down the car's license plate it's a truck actually, 188 00:14:00.080 --> 00:14:02.559 and when the deputies show up a couple of minutes later, 189 00:14:02.720 --> 00:14:06.320 they basically pass on this information saying, yeah, there's this 190 00:14:06.360 --> 00:14:08.399 body which we found on the side of the road 191 00:14:09.039 --> 00:14:13.799 that they would later learn belongs to Melissa Amidez. And 192 00:14:13.840 --> 00:14:16.200 by the way, there's this car that came up close 193 00:14:16.240 --> 00:14:18.720 to the close close to the body and drove off, 194 00:14:19.600 --> 00:14:22.919 and that that information is actually related to them, and 195 00:14:22.960 --> 00:14:25.960 so as the deputies are at the scene kind of 196 00:14:25.960 --> 00:14:30.919 looking at things on the scene, they get this information 197 00:14:31.440 --> 00:14:35.039 and this truck's license plate as one of its early leads. 198 00:14:36.159 --> 00:14:39.360 Now you introduced two central characters to this story of 199 00:14:39.519 --> 00:14:46.519 Federico Captain Federico Calderon and Ernesto Salinas. You talk about 200 00:14:46.519 --> 00:14:51.279 this person that was their first lead, their first suspect, 201 00:14:51.360 --> 00:14:54.679 and it happens to be this police officer. So there 202 00:14:54.919 --> 00:14:58.480 is some explaining to do on his behalf before we 203 00:14:58.559 --> 00:15:02.440 get to the identity vocation of this body that was found. 204 00:15:03.879 --> 00:15:06.759 That's right. So Captain card Didon is the head of 205 00:15:06.799 --> 00:15:10.919 the Criminal Investigations Division at the Webb County Sheriff's Office. 206 00:15:11.000 --> 00:15:14.159 He is he is basically called out to the scene, 207 00:15:14.519 --> 00:15:18.639 and Texas Ranger E. J. Selenas is also called out. 208 00:15:19.200 --> 00:15:25.440 Texas Rangers are basically involved. Texas Rangers are basically called 209 00:15:25.480 --> 00:15:29.399 out to like any high profile rhymes along the border, 210 00:15:29.519 --> 00:15:33.120 whether it be murders, kidnaps, things in that nature, and 211 00:15:33.200 --> 00:15:36.840 so so it's like fairly common for e. J. Selenas 212 00:15:36.879 --> 00:15:40.200 to be called out to something like this. Captain cad 213 00:15:40.240 --> 00:15:43.480 Dodon has actually worked in the past with e. J. Selenas, 214 00:15:43.480 --> 00:15:46.440 and so they both know each other, they work well together, 215 00:15:47.120 --> 00:15:51.200 and they're on the scene of something which which very 216 00:15:51.320 --> 00:15:54.879 clearly looks like it's a murder. First of all, the 217 00:15:54.919 --> 00:15:57.799 sort of position of the gunshot wounds seem to be 218 00:15:57.879 --> 00:16:00.879 all in the head and neck area area, so it 219 00:16:00.919 --> 00:16:04.039 looks like a sort of execution style killing. There are 220 00:16:04.159 --> 00:16:07.879 forty caliber shells I at the scene too, so it's 221 00:16:08.000 --> 00:16:11.639 pretty clear to them early on that this was a murder. 222 00:16:12.080 --> 00:16:15.159 And so they had this one, this this one shred 223 00:16:15.200 --> 00:16:19.279 of information about this truck that had come and then 224 00:16:19.440 --> 00:16:22.200 pulled and then pulled away, and so they and so 225 00:16:22.240 --> 00:16:27.080 they tracked down the actual the actual license plate to 226 00:16:27.600 --> 00:16:30.399 that vehicle and it turns out that it actually belongs 227 00:16:30.440 --> 00:16:33.919 to a Lato police officer. And so they go to 228 00:16:33.960 --> 00:16:39.519 the police officer's house. His name is last name, and 229 00:16:39.559 --> 00:16:42.879 they they basically go to his house with a show 230 00:16:42.919 --> 00:16:45.679 of force. There's several of them, there's a there's a 231 00:16:45.679 --> 00:16:49.480 whole team of them that show up thinking that this 232 00:16:49.480 --> 00:16:52.360 this might be the actual gunment involved in this. And 233 00:16:52.480 --> 00:16:55.840 to his surprise, I'd say, you know, sees that there's 234 00:16:55.879 --> 00:16:59.720 this whole swat, this whole swat team of officers showing 235 00:16:59.799 --> 00:17:03.039 up to his house. Him and his wife are driven 236 00:17:03.080 --> 00:17:07.960 away to a to a substation of the Sheriff's office 237 00:17:08.359 --> 00:17:13.119 and interviewed, and I said, basically, basically explains that that 238 00:17:13.119 --> 00:17:15.799 that that was him earlier today, and that he had 239 00:17:15.839 --> 00:17:21.039 been there with his with his uh stepdaughter and his 240 00:17:21.880 --> 00:17:25.759 and his other daughter, and they were what was a 241 00:17:25.799 --> 00:17:28.480 Monday morning, happened to be labor day. They were off 242 00:17:29.160 --> 00:17:32.079 from from work in school, and they were just driving 243 00:17:32.079 --> 00:17:35.000 around looking at like different properties. He never saw the 244 00:17:35.039 --> 00:17:37.680 actual body, didn't know that there was a body there, 245 00:17:38.240 --> 00:17:41.480 so just turned around and left, and they looked into 246 00:17:41.519 --> 00:17:44.559 his story. It checked out, and so that was one 247 00:17:44.880 --> 00:17:47.599 of what would become several kinds of dead ends that 248 00:17:47.799 --> 00:17:52.160 investigators had. So they still had a body, they still 249 00:17:52.160 --> 00:17:56.200 had a murder, and they didn't have any suspects at 250 00:17:56.200 --> 00:17:56.640 that point. 251 00:17:58.240 --> 00:18:01.480 Rick, excuse me, but I've got to tell you about 252 00:18:01.480 --> 00:18:05.720 my experience with Magic Mind. I took one magic Mind 253 00:18:05.759 --> 00:18:09.359 shot a day for seven days, and I prepared for 254 00:18:09.440 --> 00:18:14.119 interviews like usual, reading the book featured and taking extensive notes. 255 00:18:15.000 --> 00:18:19.400 But in that week I noticed a definite and dramatic difference. 256 00:18:20.720 --> 00:18:23.920 I was much more focused and I had much more 257 00:18:23.960 --> 00:18:30.079 mental stamina. It's made with mushroom neotropics and adaptogens, including 258 00:18:30.119 --> 00:18:32.839 one hundred percent of your daily required vitamin C and D. 259 00:18:34.440 --> 00:18:37.240 After that first week, it just made sense to add 260 00:18:37.440 --> 00:18:42.319 Magic Mind to my daily routine. You have a limited 261 00:18:42.359 --> 00:18:44.640 offer you can use now that gets you up to 262 00:18:44.880 --> 00:18:49.640 forty eight percent off your first subscription or twenty percent 263 00:18:49.720 --> 00:18:54.680 off one time purchases with code killers twenty at checkout. 264 00:18:55.720 --> 00:19:02.599 You can claim it all at magicmind dot com slash now. 265 00:19:02.960 --> 00:19:07.039 Getting back, this lead turns into the second lead they 266 00:19:07.039 --> 00:19:10.920 have to investigate, and that this person named David Garza. 267 00:19:11.039 --> 00:19:14.599 So they have a phone number, apparently they have some contact. 268 00:19:14.960 --> 00:19:18.440 What do they do in regards of investigating David Garza. 269 00:19:18.920 --> 00:19:23.480 Yes, so after they basically tell Christina Benavidez, after they 270 00:19:23.480 --> 00:19:28.279 basically revealed her that her daughter has has been murdered 271 00:19:28.680 --> 00:19:31.039 and that was a terrible moment. By the way, she 272 00:19:31.279 --> 00:19:36.440 actually told me about that moment again when like detectives 273 00:19:36.599 --> 00:19:39.200 show up to her trailer and tell her that and 274 00:19:39.240 --> 00:19:42.559 like Melissa Amidis again, I understand Melissa Admittaz was her life. 275 00:19:43.160 --> 00:19:47.640 She understood that she had dabbled into sex work and 276 00:19:47.680 --> 00:19:50.599 that she had this really sort of debilitating drug addiction. 277 00:19:51.319 --> 00:19:53.759 But she never gave up on her and always was 278 00:19:54.319 --> 00:19:56.799 working hard to get her off the streets and to 279 00:19:57.920 --> 00:20:01.240 and to help her out. And so when when she's 280 00:20:01.319 --> 00:20:04.200 told that she was brutally murdered, it just it just 281 00:20:04.240 --> 00:20:08.559 completely turned her world completely upside down. But so she's 282 00:20:08.599 --> 00:20:12.039 so she's taken back to the substation and like interviewed, 283 00:20:12.279 --> 00:20:15.319 and the first thing which she thinks of when investigators 284 00:20:15.319 --> 00:20:20.039 are asking her about her daughter is this man who 285 00:20:20.079 --> 00:20:22.599 had showed up to her trailer just a couple of 286 00:20:22.680 --> 00:20:25.759 days before, who had acted strange and I didn't say 287 00:20:25.759 --> 00:20:29.319 a lot, so he and so she happened to have 288 00:20:29.559 --> 00:20:32.319 his phone number because that's how she was communicating with 289 00:20:32.480 --> 00:20:37.039 her daughter was through this man. And so she passes 290 00:20:37.079 --> 00:20:42.119 along this information, this person's name and his phone number, 291 00:20:42.440 --> 00:20:48.759 and so David Goddessa becomes investigator's second lead suspect. 292 00:20:49.359 --> 00:20:52.680 So what happens as a result is he cleared? And 293 00:20:52.799 --> 00:20:55.319 how do they proceed with David Garza? 294 00:20:56.599 --> 00:21:01.440 So after getting Goddess's information, they they call him up, 295 00:21:01.759 --> 00:21:03.680 they get his address, and then they like pay him 296 00:21:03.680 --> 00:21:06.039 a visit and they go out to his house talk 297 00:21:06.039 --> 00:21:09.680 about and they talk it through with him. He actually admits, yes, 298 00:21:09.920 --> 00:21:14.119 that he knew Melissa Amde. He claims that they were 299 00:21:14.119 --> 00:21:18.119 only friends, that he wasn't a client, but that he 300 00:21:18.200 --> 00:21:20.920 did know her, and that he was with her and 301 00:21:21.000 --> 00:21:25.720 like around a couple of days before her murder, and 302 00:21:25.759 --> 00:21:29.160 that in fact, like the day of her murder, that Monday, 303 00:21:29.200 --> 00:21:32.400 September third, he was out of town. He's a truck 304 00:21:32.480 --> 00:21:36.359 driver and like he was out of town and basically 305 00:21:36.359 --> 00:21:40.720 on a job elsewhere. So they look into it. They 306 00:21:40.920 --> 00:21:45.680 check GPS quordinates both of his phone, something on his truck, 307 00:21:46.720 --> 00:21:50.400 and then it all checks out. His story checks out, 308 00:21:50.440 --> 00:21:52.960 and so he's actually clear as a sort of potential 309 00:21:53.000 --> 00:21:56.759 suspect also, so they're back to square one. 310 00:21:57.519 --> 00:22:01.119 Before we talk about that, Selenis goes back to the 311 00:22:01.200 --> 00:22:05.000 relax in to talk to Pat about things going on 312 00:22:05.079 --> 00:22:08.200 at the relax in. But one thing that we hadn't 313 00:22:08.240 --> 00:22:11.599 mentioned is that at that scene there was found forty 314 00:22:11.640 --> 00:22:16.200 caliber bullets. But they were especially interesting in it. They 315 00:22:16.240 --> 00:22:21.079 were jacketed hollow point bullets. Now, what was the these 316 00:22:21.119 --> 00:22:24.079 type of bullets typical of in law enforcement? 317 00:22:25.400 --> 00:22:31.480 That's right, they basically found several forty caliber cells. They're 318 00:22:31.839 --> 00:22:34.440 at the scene of the crime, and they weren't only 319 00:22:34.559 --> 00:22:39.359 jacketed hollow point jacketed cells, but they were of this 320 00:22:39.559 --> 00:22:44.839 brand called Federal and Federal brand bullets are widely known 321 00:22:45.079 --> 00:22:51.799 by These Federal bullets are widely used by law enforcement agencies, 322 00:22:52.240 --> 00:22:56.799 and the reason why they're mostly used by law enforcement 323 00:22:56.839 --> 00:23:01.200 agencies is because they're more expensive than other brands, and 324 00:23:01.240 --> 00:23:05.319 so it's like typical for law enforcement agencies, whether it's 325 00:23:05.400 --> 00:23:10.279 federal law enforcement agencies such as Border Patrol or FBI, 326 00:23:11.240 --> 00:23:15.599 or local law enforcement agencies to use these Federal brand bullets. 327 00:23:16.039 --> 00:23:20.720 God that own the serf's office investigator knows this, recognize 328 00:23:20.759 --> 00:23:26.839 that as federal law enforcement recognizes this Federal brand as 329 00:23:26.880 --> 00:23:31.559 something used by law enforcement agencies, so that so that 330 00:23:31.599 --> 00:23:34.599 also becomes a lead. And they realized that they may 331 00:23:34.640 --> 00:23:38.599 be were they may be looking for somebody who is 332 00:23:38.599 --> 00:23:39.759 in law enforcement. 333 00:23:40.920 --> 00:23:44.720 You talk that Selenis goes and talks to pat at 334 00:23:44.720 --> 00:23:47.079 the relax in and they talked to a bunch of 335 00:23:47.400 --> 00:23:52.519 Melissa's acquaintances and friends, and then Selenas decides to call 336 00:23:52.599 --> 00:23:58.680 the South Texas Southern Texas Border Intelligence Center or acronym 337 00:23:58.839 --> 00:24:04.559 b C, and there was a person named Juan David Ortiz, 338 00:24:05.160 --> 00:24:10.440 a US Border Patrol supervisory agent, and you write a 339 00:24:10.559 --> 00:24:14.119 rising star at the agency. He was also there for 340 00:24:14.279 --> 00:24:17.839 that phone call, straining to overhear the details of that 341 00:24:17.920 --> 00:24:18.400 phone call. 342 00:24:20.160 --> 00:24:24.079 Yeah. So this big is Border Intelligence Center. This is 343 00:24:24.119 --> 00:24:30.240 something which is housed basically at the US Border Patrol 344 00:24:30.319 --> 00:24:34.559 Laredo Sector headquarters, which is right in downtown Laredo, and 345 00:24:34.599 --> 00:24:38.039 it's on the second story of the offices there, and 346 00:24:38.079 --> 00:24:42.039 it's this shared office space with the intention that you 347 00:24:43.039 --> 00:24:46.960 basically you basically place representatives of all the different agencies there, 348 00:24:47.480 --> 00:24:52.960 the Webb County Sheriff's Office, Laredo Police Department, Border Patrol, FBI. 349 00:24:53.680 --> 00:24:57.160 You get them all in one area so that they're 350 00:24:57.200 --> 00:25:02.000 able to share all information leading cases along the border. 351 00:25:02.400 --> 00:25:07.519 And they commonly share different different information about different cases 352 00:25:07.599 --> 00:25:12.880 along the border, whether it's sort of pursuing cartel cartel officials, 353 00:25:13.240 --> 00:25:17.920 or it's drug running or kidnappings or murders, and so 354 00:25:19.160 --> 00:25:22.599 in this in this Border information center, there is this 355 00:25:22.880 --> 00:25:26.359 supervisory agent named Juan David Ortiz. He's kind of a 356 00:25:26.440 --> 00:25:29.319 rising star like at the agency. He had he had 357 00:25:29.400 --> 00:25:32.960 been there a number of years and his he works 358 00:25:32.960 --> 00:25:36.119 in a supervisory role and so he has other border 359 00:25:36.119 --> 00:25:39.759 patrol agents under him. So when Selena's makes the call, 360 00:25:40.680 --> 00:25:43.720 one of the people who who are there is one 361 00:25:44.160 --> 00:25:49.720 David Ortiz, and he has an interest in basically overhearing 362 00:25:49.759 --> 00:25:51.160 what is happening with that case. 363 00:25:53.920 --> 00:25:58.960 You take us to part two and Eric Aguilar and 364 00:25:59.720 --> 00:26:03.519 he gets a text message from his navy pow, this 365 00:26:03.720 --> 00:26:07.599 David Ortiz, but he calls them his nickname is Doc. 366 00:26:08.400 --> 00:26:11.039 He is alarmed because it seems like there's some signs 367 00:26:11.039 --> 00:26:15.559 of substance abuse from his friend. And he had apparently 368 00:26:15.920 --> 00:26:19.640 Ortes had confessed to Aguilar that the death and misery 369 00:26:19.759 --> 00:26:23.880 witnessed each day on the border was gnawing at him 370 00:26:23.880 --> 00:26:28.799 and stressing him completely. So they both served in Iraq 371 00:26:28.880 --> 00:26:35.079 together and Aguilar urges Ortes to get professional help. Then 372 00:26:35.119 --> 00:26:40.319 you take us to the background of this David Ortes 373 00:26:40.839 --> 00:26:41.920 and how he was raised. 374 00:26:41.960 --> 00:26:47.640 In his background, Yeah, so Juan David Ortiz, who was 375 00:26:47.799 --> 00:26:50.319 thirty five at the time of the murders, he's he 376 00:26:50.480 --> 00:26:53.599 is from South Texas. He was actually born and raised 377 00:26:53.799 --> 00:26:58.400 in Brownville, Texas, which is the southernmost city in Texas 378 00:26:58.480 --> 00:27:02.480 running a border with Mexico. There. He comes from comes 379 00:27:02.480 --> 00:27:05.559 from sort of Mexican ancestry. He's second and third generation 380 00:27:05.759 --> 00:27:09.880 Mexican American. He's raised in Brownsville by a single mom 381 00:27:10.319 --> 00:27:15.160 with three sisters. He's raised very sort of devout Christian. 382 00:27:15.640 --> 00:27:21.440 His family is is some like evangelical Pentecostal, so very 383 00:27:21.559 --> 00:27:27.440 so very devout Christian. And high school he's he's very 384 00:27:27.480 --> 00:27:31.160 active on the swim team, but he also leads the 385 00:27:31.160 --> 00:27:36.519 the high school Bible study group. And you know, talk 386 00:27:36.599 --> 00:27:40.400 to friends who basically knew him grewing, who basically knew 387 00:27:40.440 --> 00:27:43.079 him growing up, and they all they all basically they 388 00:27:43.160 --> 00:27:46.000 all basically describe him as his really straight laced student. 389 00:27:46.640 --> 00:27:48.960 Where some of the other students wanted to go party 390 00:27:49.000 --> 00:27:52.200 and maybe cross over the bridge into like Matamotos, Mexico 391 00:27:52.640 --> 00:27:57.200 and had some drinks. David Ortiz always basically declined that 392 00:27:57.359 --> 00:28:00.359 and like they didn't want to go and and dead 393 00:28:00.440 --> 00:28:05.519 like organized Bible study groups like his house. So he too, 394 00:28:05.720 --> 00:28:09.279 friends around him was this very sort of devout guy, 395 00:28:09.839 --> 00:28:13.400 good student. Heaverally involved in school. But you know, it 396 00:28:13.440 --> 00:28:17.759 turns out we basically learned later he he he tells 397 00:28:17.799 --> 00:28:21.599 therapists and counselors years years later that there was trouble 398 00:28:21.640 --> 00:28:26.240 at home also that his mom told him when he 399 00:28:26.400 --> 00:28:29.519 was around middle school or high school age that his 400 00:28:29.839 --> 00:28:34.799 father had actually committed suicide, and that during his time 401 00:28:34.839 --> 00:28:38.920