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A supervisor of the US Border Patrol, accused of killing four Texas women and kidnapping a fifth, was jailed on Sunday on a $ 2.5 million bail.
Juan David Ortiz, 35, was arrested early Saturday after being found hidden in a truck parked in front of a hotel in Laredo. He is charged with four counts of murder, as well as aggravated assault with a lethal weapon and unlawful coercion.
Webb District Attorney, Isidro Alaniz, said Saturday that investigators "consider that it is a serial killer". He noted that the four victims of the murder were working as prostitutes and that all four were shot in the head and left on a road in the rural county of South Texas.
The authorities say the violence lasted 11 days, starting with the discovery on September 4 of the remains of 29-year-old Melissa Ramirez. According to a police statement, Ortiz said he killed Ramirez, a mother of two, the day before.
A second victim, 42-year-old Claudine Anne Luera, was found shot and wounded and left on the road Thursday morning, seriously injured but still alive, according to the affidavit.
The mother of five died in a hospital later in the day.
On Friday, according to the affidavit, Ortiz took a woman named Erika Pena. She told the police that she had struggled with Ortiz inside her truck, where he had pointed her a gun, but that she could run away. She went to a gas station where she found a state soldier to whom she asked for help.
According to the affidavit, Ortiz told the investigators that after he had escaped, Pena had picked up his last two victims, whose identities had not yet been disclosed by the authorities.
The prison records do not mention a lawyer for Ortiz, who had been working for the Border Patrol for 10 years.
Alaniz said that one of the victims was a transgender woman. At least two were American citizens. the nationalities of the others were not known, he said. He stated that the investigators were still working to determine a motive.
Ortiz would have acted alone.
The federal agency issued a statement offering his "sincere condolences" to the families of the victims and stating that the criminal activity of its employees is not tolerated.
The Texas Department of Public Safety, which the Texas Rangers are investigating, has referred questions about the case to the Webb County Sheriff's Office. Sheriff Martin Cuellar did not return several messages requesting comments.
Associated Press contributed to this report.
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