This past Sunday, September 16th, 2018, a U.S Border Patrol intel supervisor, Juan David Ortiz, was arrested after he killed four women in Laredo, Texas. These horrendous acts were committed by Ortiz as a part of a ten-day violent spree according to the Chicago Tribune, prompting authorities to classify him as a serial killer.
The series of events that led to Ortiz’s arrest are alarming and disturbing, especially knowing that Ortiz was in a position of power, working at the United States Customs and Border Patrol (CPB) for ten years. Before his arrest on early Saturday morning, Ortiz tried to lure a fifth victim into his truck, but she escaped and went to the police in Laredo. After she gave the police a description, they found Ortiz in a hotel parking lot around 2 A.M. He was then taken into custody, admitted to killing all four of the women and charged with 4 counts of murder, aggravated assault, and unlawful restraint.
After a police investigation, it has become known that all four of these victims are sex workers, and authorities believed he went after these women due to this reason. He profiled his victims based upon his knowledge and contacts “within the sex worker community”, according to Rolling Stone. Each of the victims was killed in the same way and were a part of the same community. Another chilling detail to this investigation was released; while Ortiz went on this violent spree at night, he still went to work every day as a Border Patrol supervisor acting like he was innocent. The police were searching for who committed these awful acts during the time that Ortiz was working during the day.
These four innocent women had families and children that are now grieving because of this man’s disgusting actions. These random acts of murder will impact these families forever and justice has to be served.