Ex-Border Patrol Agent Convicted in the Deaths of 4 South Texas Women: Report

The bodies of Melissa Ramirez, 29, Claudine Anne Luera, 42, Guiselda Alicia Cantu, 35, and Janelle Ortiz, 28, were found along roads outside the town

A former border patrol agent was convicted of capital murder on Wednesday in connection to the deaths of four women in South Texas in 2018.

Juan David Ortiz, 39, received an automatic sentence of life in prison without parole, according to the Associated Press.

Ortiz was arrested in Laredo in 2018 after confessing to the crimes, which happened between Sept. 3 and Sept. 15 of that year.

The bodies of Melissa Ramirez, 29, Claudine Anne Luera, 42, Guiselda Alicia Cantu, 35, and Janelle Ortiz, 28, were found along roads outside the town.

Ortiz later told authorities that he had targeted the sex workers, one of whom was transgender.

The case broke when the former intel supervisor allegedly picked up a female sex worker who managed to escape him.

He allegedly brandished a handgun and threatened her. The woman tried to flee his vehicle, but Ortiz allegedly grabbed her shirt to prevent her from running. She wiggled out of it, freeing herself.

In his confession, which jurors watched during the trial, Ortiz told investigators that the women were "trash," and that he wanted to "clean up the streets," per the AP.

AP/REX/Shutterstock

Ortiz worked for the Border Patrol for ten years and had served in the U.S. Navy.

Family members of the victims, including Ramirez's sister-in-law, Gracie Perez, gave statements in court Wednesday.

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"Do you know how much pain you have caused this family?" Perez told Ortiz. "My heart is torn apart knowing that I won't be able to see her but to visit her in the cemetery," she said.