Accused Border Patrol vigilante faces death penalty

Prosecutors said Wednesday they will seek the death penalty for a U.S. Border Patrol agent who confessed to murdering four prostitutes. A grand jury indicted Juan David Ortiz, 35, on capital murder charges in the string of killings that occurred in September. Webb County, Texas, District Attorney Isidro Alaniz said evidence presented to the grand jury showed Ortiz killed the workers “in a cold, callous, and calculating way.” Ortiz said he wanted to “clean up the streets” of his Texas border hometown of Laredo, a prosecutor said during announcement, and that vigilante attitude was also a factor in Alaniz’s decision to pursue the death sentence.

Ortiz is accused of fatally shooting four prostitutes between Sept. 3 and Sept. 14. He allegedly attempted to pick up a fifth woman, but she ran away when he pointed a gun at her. Ortiz has been held in the Webb County jail in lieu of a $2.5 million bond since he was arrested. He was a Border Patrol supervisor and U.S. Navy veteran who lived in the suburbs with his wife and two children.