By Steve Neavling
Ticklethewire.com
A Border Patrol agent described as a serial killer was indicted on capital murder charges Wednesday, and prosecutors said they would seek the death penalty.
A grand jury upgraded the charges against Juan David Ortiz, a 10-year veteran of the agency who was arrested after he confessed to killing four sex workers in the area around Laredo, Tex., the Washington Post reports.
Ortiz found his victims from the side of the road and killed four of them in rural parts of Webb County, prosecutors said.
Webb County District Attorney Isidro Alaniz cited numerous reasons he was seeking the death penalty.
“The horrific nature of the murders. His complete disregard for human life. His vigilante mentality. He violated his oath to his country and his agency that he swore to protect,” Alaniz said. “We also believe that there are no mitigating circumstances in his life where it is justified for life without parole.”
According to Alaniz, Ortiz said his motivation had been to “clean up the streets of Laredo by targeting this community of individuals who he perceived to be disposable.”
“The evidence that was presented to the grand jury this morning showed that he killed these four innocent individuals in a cold, callous and calculated way,” he said.
