Photos shock families
Juror faints as details of autopsies emerge in Ortiz capital murder trial
Relatives of four women found dead outside Laredo in September 2018 wept in court Monday as the women’s injuries were detailed at the capital murder trial of the man accused of killing them.
One juror fainted shortly after Webb County Medical Examiner Corinne Stern began showing photographs of the victims, all of them Laredo sex workers who were shot in the head or neck.
Prosecutors say Juan David Ortiz, then 35, was an intelligence supervisor for the U.S. Border Patrol when he drove the women to remote areas and shot them — Melissa Ramirez, 29, on Sept. 3; Claudine Anne Luera, 42, on Sept. 13; and the last two on Sept. 15: Guiselda Alicia Hernandez, 35, and Humberto Ortiz, a transgender woman who went by Janelle Ortiz, 28.
He admitted after a lengthy interview with investigators after his arrest early on Sept. 15 that he knew three of them. He would pick them up on San Bernardo Avenue, take them to buy drugs and have sex with them.
The trial was moved to San Antonio because of extensive media coverage in Laredo.
The courtroom was cleared Monday after a gasp came from the jury box and jurors were seen trying to help the man who passed out at about 12:15 p.m.
State District Judge Oscar J. Hale Jr., who had not called a
break since the trial resumed at 8:50 a.m., dismissed the jury for lunch.
Stern left the witness stand and went to talk to the juror, who looked pale.
Juror is excused
The trial has had a jury of 15, including three alternates. When proceedings resumed at 1:30 p.m., Hale announced that the man had been excused from service, leaving the panel with 14, including two alternates.
Back on the stand, Stern walked them through the injuries of each of the four victims. Ramirez, Luera and Ortiz each died of gunshot wounds; Hernandez, shot in the neck, died of blunt force trauma to the head from an object Stern said she was not able to identify.
She also conducted toxicology tests and “all four tested positive for cocaine, heroin, or Xanax,” Stern told the jury.
Monday’s testimony, which began with the chain of custody of evidence collected from Ortiz’s pickup, was low-key compared to the roughly 10 hours of video of the questioning of Ortiz last week, which culminated Friday when he was heard admitting the killings.
His description of the death of Janelle Ortiz, hours earlier, took detectives by surprise and allowed officers to locate her body, an investigator testified.
Ortiz went into grim detail on how he killed the women and how many times he shot the victims.
Claims he has PTSD
He initially told investigators he suffered from post traumatic stress disorder from a Navy deployment in Iraq and did not remember what happened because of blackouts.
He also said he was taking prescription medication for depression and anxiety that didn’t mix well with the beer he drank.
Ortiz’s confession, when it came after hours of deflecting questions, was laced with contempt for the women.
The ex-border agent said he wanted to “clean up” the streets.
The case is being heard in the courtroom of Bexar County Court at Law No. 5.
If convicted, Ortiz, now 39, faces life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Webb County District Attorney Isidro R. “Chilo” Alaniz previously sought the death penalty but rescinded that after consulting with families of the victims.