‘Serial killer’ arrest

US border guard jailed after four prostitutes die in 10 days

A US Border Patrol supervisor was jailed yesterday in Texas, accused of killing at least four women and injuring a fifth who managed to escape.

Juan David Ortiz, 35, was in custody in Laredo on four counts of murder along with charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and unlawful restraint.

He was arrested a day earlier, after being found hiding in a truck in a hotel parking lot in Laredo, capping what investigators portrayed as a 10-day string of violence.

Webb County District Attorney Isidro Alaniz said investigators “consider this to be a serial killer” whose victims were believed to be prostitutes.

He described how the Customs and Border Patrol supervisor continued going to work as usual throughout that time.

“As law enforcement was looking for the killer ... he would be reporting to work every day like normal,” he said.

It all began with the discovery on September 4 of the body of 29-year-old Melissa Ramirez. According to a police affidavit, Ortiz said he killed Ramirez a day earlier. Like the other victims, Ramirez was shot in the head and left in a road in rural Webb County.

A second victim, 42-yearold Claudine Anne Luera, was found shot and left on the road on Thursday morning, badly injured but still alive, according to the affidavit.

The mother of five died at a hospital later that day.

On Friday, according to the affidavit, Ortiz picked up a woman named Erika Pena. She told police she struggled with Ortiz inside his truck, where he pointed a pistol at her, but she was able to flee.

According to the affidavit, Ortiz told investigators that after Pena ran off, he picked up his last two victims, whose identities have not yet been released by authorities.

The dead are believed to have been prostitutes and one was a transgender woman.

Ortiz was believed to have acted alone.