Former Border Patrol agent convicted of killing 4 women in Texas 

A former border patrol agent was convicted of capital murder on Wednesday after he confessed to killing four sex workers in 2018 in an attempt to “clean up the streets” of his Texas hometown. 

Juan David Ortiz, 39, was sentenced to life in prison without parole after the jurors decided not to seek the death penalty. 

While Ortiz was a Border Patrol supervisor, he killed four sex workers, Melissa Ramirez, 29, Claudine Anne Luera, 42, Guiselda Alicia Cantu, 35, and Janelle Ortiz, 28. Their bodies were found along different roads near Laredo in September 2018. 

During the two-week trial, the San Antonio jurors heard recordings of Ortiz’s confession, where he told investigators that he had once been a customer of the women despite thinking that they were “trash” and “so dirty.” 

Ortiz insisted that he wanted to “clean up the streets” of his hometown, which is was prompted him to murder the women. 

GUILTY! 💯⚖️ Former Border Agent Juan David Ortiz has been found guilty of capital murder & sentenced to life in prison without parole! @CourtTV pic.twitter.com/YXaa1OMT2h

— Julie Grant (@JulieCourtTV) December 8, 2022

Investigators identified Ortiz as the suspect in the murders after a sex worker told police that she narrowly escaped with her life after he threatened her with a gun. 

“Mr. Ortiz was a serial killer then and is a serial killer now,” said prosecutor Isidro Alaniz. “Cold, callous, calculating, just like that. It is terrifying to have the enemy within the ranks of law enforcement.”

Defense attorney Joel Perez argued that Ortiz was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder after he had been deployed to Iraq. He added that Ortiz suffered from insomnia, and nightmares, and was medicated.

"Do you know how much pain you have caused this family?" Perez said. "My heart is torn apart knowing that I won't be able to see her but to visit her in the cemetery," said Ramirez’s sister-in-law, Gracie Perez, following the verdict.