The Laredo Texas Serial Killer

Hi, this is Christina and Carmen, and this is another episode of a Spooky Tales, the podcast for all Things Hunted, a spooky true crime in Latin America. And today it is just true crime and it's very depressing and angering. That's just that's been the mood. Yeah, it's my fault, and yeah, that's what we have today. No panorma. Sorry, that's the mood in general. Yes, and yeah didn't. We don't have a listener story today because we're just gonna do the true crime case. But we still are receiving them always. So if you have a story that you want to send us, you can email as Spooky Tales at gmail dot com. You can dm us on any of our socials. You can submit it on Discord. You can dma on any of our socials like Instagram, even TikTok. You can call the Spooky hotline. All are cool. We love receiving them. Okay, and yeah again we're just gonna jump straight into my depressing case. Again. It's very infuriating and depressing. I can't stress that enough. So I am sharing a case where the murderer, the perpetrator is a former Border Patrol agent. Oh that one. Mm hmm. Yeah. When this happened, people asked, how could this happen? How could someone who is supposed to protect us become a monster and high defect. I would like to remind people that that's not the purpose of border patrol. Yeah, yeah, they are often the perpetators of violence. So to me, when I learned that it was a bored patrol agent that there is, it. Was no surprise. You were like, okay, makes sense. Yeah, I'm like shocking at all, the least shocked, like I could ever be. Yeah, but I get it. Not everyone's there yet, so yeah, anyway, the case. So, in the follow of twenty eighteen, terror struck the normally relative safe city of Laredo, Texas, compared to its Mexican counterpart, Nuevo Laredo, Latto is pretty safe. Laredo, not Nova Lao, is often included in the top ten safest cities in Texas. To me, Larelo seems like one of those places you only go if you're from there. It's not like a destination, like or you're yeah, yeah, yeah, you're there because you already live there and like you're not visiting or you have family there. That would be the only reason you're visiting. Yeah, it's not like I don't know Austin or San Antonio, but like I've only ever been to San Antonio. I can't like I haven't been to Texas, but if I went, I would probably go, Like I don't know like San Antonio, I don't know Houston unless we're visiting family. Yeah, Laredo is right next to Mexico along the Rio Grande, with the population of more than two hundred and sixty thousand. Going by crime rates alone, it's way safer than Dallas and Houston. So when four women were found dead in a span of two weeks, people were terrified. And then when connections between the murders were made. That's her grew. Where the connections between the murders. Yeah, okay, what did they say? No, I'm just repeating because I thought you said murderers and I was like what, oh no, no, Yeah, because two of them were found in the same general area, like literally so close to each other. Yeah, I was giving serial killer. Yes, yes, they were found in the rural roads outside of Lareedo. And these women were all known sex workers, all working in the same road San Bernardo, And this is Laredo's main road, and unlike other places, the sex industry here was not somewhere hidden away. Literally on the main road, everyone knew where it was. Blocks away from the high school, sex workers lined the main street out in the open. They were all mostly local and very close knit, and one of these close knit groups of friends was Melisaramirez, Janelle Ortiz and Claudine Luerra. They would sit together on an orange bench and chat between clients. They ate at the local takeia together. They shared clothes and the costs of motel rooms, and all three were very well known in the community. Melisar Ramirez was twenty nine, but she still had like this motherly role within the community. She had been working in San Bernardo for almost ten years, and she grew up in Rio Bravo, a low income community thirteen miles south of Ladedo, and she lived there with her mom, Cristina ba Navidez, and two of her kids, who were seven and three when all this was taking place twenty eighteen. It was a humble home with kids toy scattered around the yard of a mobile home, and Melissa was the third oldest of four siblings and as a kid she loved playing Mexican music on the accordion, which cool, very cool. She memorized all the lyrics of all of Selena's most famous songs, and since childhood she was known for her compassion. She was a really good student, but all of this changed when she was sexually assaulted by the uncle of one of her friends. Oh no, this was during high school and life became very difficult for her. After this, she turned to xanax to cope, dropped out of high school, then began using other drugs. By the time she became a mother who struggles with addiction were worse and you know, like everyone trying to get better, she would swear off drugs, be home with her kids and her mom, but it was difficult. It's a very difficult thing to do, and so then she would leave her kids again with her mom and take the bus to downtown Laedo and work the streets. And then she would be gone for a few days then return home again, and her mom and kids were always waiting for her back home. Whenever she would get there, Christina would cook Melissa's favorite meal for her. She always called her Miniamosa ever since she was a baby, and so when Melissa left on September tewod. Christina expected her back in a few days, like always, but this time it was different. Two detectives and two Texas Rangers were at her doorstep and they brought the worst news of Christina's life with them. Melissa had been found dead on a small access road twenty miles outside of Laedon. It was around noon on. The third September third when the Webb County Sheriff Department received a call from a rancher who had discovered a woman on the side of a dirt road. She had been. Lying face down. She was shot three times in the head and once in her right art, and she had been clutching a bag of M and ms when she was killed. Next to her there were forty caliber bullet casings and so to the police, this meant she had been shot execution style like at point blank range. And at the morgue, she was quickly identified as Melissa Ramidez. They used fingerprints, which then resulted in a two thousand and eight arrests for prostitution that she was in the system, and that's how they found out so quickly who it was, and the investigation started slow efforts with false leads. Christina remembered that Melissa had mentioned a man in a black truck, but after finding out who this man was, he was cleared completely like he had nothing to do with it. But unfortunately, rumors of a black truck spread among the women on San Bernardo and they were all warning each other to avoid a black truck, which again was a false rumor or false lead, And surveillance of the site showed that a police car had arrived before the assigned unit, or had arrived, like before the dispatch call sent a police car, there was already an officer there, and so this police car on surveillance they could see that it drove down the road and it turned around right where Melissa's body was, and so at first they were like, well, this is probably the murder, revisiting the murder scene. But no, after investigating, this was not the case. It was just a police officer who had been driving down the road to look at property he was going to buy. Oh that's what I thought at first, Yeah, it is. It seemed like that, and so I did leave. I guess, why would you want to stay there if you're not working. It's like, yeah, well, normally I think he would have to call it in, but he wasn't working yet. He was just in his car, probably like dropping his daughter off at school, and on the way there he stopped to look at this property. I'm not sure, but his daughter was in the car with oh, and he didn't want her to see, of course, so he turned around quickly. And so this at first made people think, oh, I got it's a police officer. And they were like, you know, just chasing these false leads, which again is always like, it's part of it, part of the investigation, but it sucks when they waste so much time that could have been you know, more fruitful. So the only leads they had went nowhere. And because of the location of where she was found, Border Patrol was brought in to assist with the investigation because you know, this area along the border is heavily surveilled, like there if we live in a state surveillance as a whole United States, that's a super state surveillance that they are under, yes, extreme, and you know, investigators knew that Border Patrol had automated cameras on a lot of these small access roads and they're going at all times, and so Border Patrol was asked to check license plates for any vehicles that were on that road at the time of the murder. And there was one Border Patrol in intelligence supervisor named Juanda Vidortis who led his team through these checks and he and his team cleared every driver. Hmmmm. And so for ten days the investigation was stalled. Melissa's killer could be anyone at this point. Then on the morning of September thirteenth, ten days after, forty two year old Claudine Luerra was found dead two miles from where Melissa Amidas had been discovered. Wow, And just like. Melissa, Claudine had been shot multiple times in the head, execution style. And they found the same type of forty caliber bullet casings next to her too. And it was a big rick driver who found her and called nine one one. But unlike Melissa, Claudine was still alive. Oh. The driver spotted. Her from where he was driving, pulled over, climbed down from his cab and checked on her and found her breathing. And not only that, but she hadn't managed to crawl from the grass like a hidden spot on the side of the road, deep in the grass, she crawled all the way to a visible spot on the road. That's how he was able to see her. But at this point she had been fighting for her life for almost five hours. Wow. She was transported to the hospital and she continued to live until that afternoon where she died from her head injuries. But a long time. Yeah, And at first, investigators tried to keep Claudine's murder quiet. They told the media that a woman died from head trauma at the hospital. They were like, yes, that happened, but they would say nothing else. But reporters found out how close together the women were found, and they connected the two murders right away, and so news about a serial killer loose on the streets of Ladedo spread quickly. And Claudie was one of Melissa's closest friends. But I'm not clear if this was part of the news being spread or that people just knew they were both sex workers that had been found two miles apart from each other. But you know, it would seem the killer knew they knew each other at least. And Claudine she grew up in Laedon. She attended the high school that is just a few blocks from San Bernardo. The streets, the street that they all worked on, and she had a very rough childhood and she never shared what happened to her. But something that changed her life forever took place when she was five, something traumatic, something that she has always said took all good. Away from her. Oh some terrible. Yeah, And she and her sister were known as Las Blanchitas in their childhood because they were I want to say, half Polish, half Mexican. And for some time she did try to move past her trauma. She was working as a clerk for the DA's office, but her struggle with drugs only got worse. In twenty fourteen. Her kids were from her care and plays with her sister, but her kids, like the goal of her oldest daughter, was to graduate as a nurse, have all their siblings buy a house, sorry, graduate as a nurse, buy a house, move all her siblings, her aunt, and her mom in the same house. They just wanted to all be together, even even through the struggles of their mom. Which is it's beautiful because again it is something that is so difficult for so many people. Yeah, And like Melissa, Claudine always talked about getting better, and just days before her own murder, the day Melissa was found dead, Claudine went to her older kid at her apartment and told her that she was scared and wanted to leave sex work for good because she was like, I could be next. And she said she knew who Melissa had been with last Oh, and Claudine's fears became true, but this wouldn't be discovered until the killer's confession. It turned out that Claudine was trying to figure out what happened to her friend. She set her fear aside and got into the killer's truck and began to ask questions. There was a confrontation and then he ordered her at gunpoint to get out of the truck and when she did, he also got out behind her, and that's when he killed her or not, that's when he shot her. And again she died in the hospital a few hours. I mean, she wasn't able to share this information because of the condition she was in. This was found out after he confessed. Yeah, it almost feels like she was trying to stay alive to try and share this information, but her injuries were too severe. Yeah, when she died in the hospital just a few hours after that, the killer was already picking up his next target. Wow. On the evening of like he this was like so fast, it's insane. It reminds me of in criminal minds when like one person killed like someone and then they get like the itch for it and then like it's a kind of like spray killing. Yeah. Yeah. On the evening of September fourteenth, twenty seven year old Erica Pena was walking San Bernardo. A white Dodge Ram pulled up to pick her up, and she of course heard what had happened to Melissa, just like the rest of the women who were working that night, but she needed the money. Plus they had. All her to watch out for a black truck and she knew the man driving. She knew that he was some sort of law enforcement and he had picked her up in the past. He was like a regular on San Bernardo and when she got on it struck he was normal, talkative. He drove her down to his home and said his kids and wife are out of town that weekend, because yes, he was married. Of course he was course, of course, and they talked while she smoked a cigarette. But then she asked him if he knew anything about her friend, Melissa Ramidez, and he started to act weird. He stopped smiling, he got all the offensive, and he was like, why would you ask me about the murder? Why would I know anything about that? And she thought it was an innocent enough question, like him being in some sort of law enforcement, he might know, he might know something. But when he got defensive, she started to feel uneasy and scared, of course, and she describes that he stood right behind her and she just felt like he smelt like death or something like she felt that and then. She threw up. She quickly, like she said. She played it off and said like, oh, maybe it's because I didn't eat before, like smoking my cigarette, and it just made my stomach like, you know, queasy. And so they got back in the truck and went to the gas station so he could just buy like a snack or something. And when he got back into the truck, she brought up Melissa again because now she was like this is now she wanted to like confirm if her suspicions were true. Yes, And this time he reached into the side compartment on her side, pulled out his gun and aimed it at her. Oh wow. But before he could do anything, she opened the door so fast and she jumped out, and he reached out and ripped her shirt off, like trying to pull her back in, but she fell into the sidewalk, got up, she sprinted across the gas station, where there happened to be another police officer, and she was screaming at the top of her lungs, at the top of her lungs, that he was going to kill her. But by the time she reached this officer, the man in the truck was gone. But this officer was well aware of the recent killings and thought this was related, and so he took Eddie got to the Webb County Sheriff station where investigators interviewed her, and she told them everything that had happened, and that the man was a Border Patrol agent named David, and normally she was terrible at directions and addresses, like even her family made fun of her, and so that she wouldn't be able to get to her own house from like the corner store. Sounds like someone I know both of us, Yeah, yeah, I was going to say, actually two people I know, two people that share one brain cell, yes, yeah, yeah, But this time, no, this time she remembered his address. Wow, And so investigators searched that up. They got a hit and they found that it belonged to Juan David Orthiz, the very same intelligence officer who had been assisting the murdered investigation. Shocking why they kept getting nowhere? Yeah, shocking Why none of the cars were matching because he lied. Yeah. And by the time they arrived at his house, he was gone. Yeah. By the time they had this information, got a warrant, then were able to go to his house. Yeah, he was gone. It was now after midnight on the fifteenth, and you know, they had a warrant, so they were able to go inside the house and they found twelve weapons, including rifles, pistols, and a shotgun. They put out a bolo with the description of his truck and of him. But just before the bolo went out, he was already picking up his next victim. Damn, you can't even chill for one night. No. And so this was Grisel la Cantou, who went by Celli and Celli mostly kept to herself. She carried all of her things in a bag and she would be seen packing and repacking this same bag in between clients. And maybe because she was so quiet and kept to herself, she wasn't aware of fully what was going on or the danger she was in when she got into the men's truck, But she got into his truck. And again, they're all here because they needed the money. They need to keep working, so even when there's a dangerous case like this, they can't stop working. So yeah, she got into his truck because you know, she had to. And so he spent twenty miles north on Interstate thirty five, where he demanded her to get out of the truck and then he shut her in the neck twice and then he still hit her over the head with the an object, like, oh my gosh, that wasn't enough. Why, like what is the reason? Right? So then he got back into his truck and sped, and he must have been speeding because like they're already looking for him. Yeah, but he sped back to San Bernardo, using back roads to avoid the very like where they were doing searches already on the main main roads. And so then he pulled up next to two women and he asked if one of them would be his date, and twenty eight year old Janelle Ortiz agreed because she had been sleeping under a bridge lately and she really needed the money, and I mean they needed to feed themselves and to eat. That's going to outweigh the safety issues of what's going on right now, like that's always going to well, and everything was happening so quickly they might not be up to date on the information. Plus they had last heard to keep away from a black truck, like you had said earlier. So yeah that too. So yeah, she got in his truck. But just a few days before, her santam Merta figure that she always carried around had snapped at the head, and she took this as a sign that something bad was going to hold to her. She had been a devout Santa Morta follower since her transition, and to her this was an omen So she got in his truck and he again drove down inners thirty five, and just like everyone else, he ordered her to get out of the truck and shot her in the back of the head. And her last words were, if we're. Going to do it, then do it. Wow. And then the man did just as he had before, He got in his truck and sped back into town, probably trying to find someone else to dam It's absolutely wild. Yeah. By now it was one am. On the sixteenth and Highway. Patrol troopers had driven past a Valero gas station where they saw a white Dodge Ram truck in the parking lot and it matched the BOLO that had been sent out earlier, and the truck was unattended, so they went to look inside the truck and they saw the forty caliber pistol, which matched the previous scenes crime scenes, and so the officers headed into the gas station tasers drawn to apprehend him, but he saw them and he fled on foot through the side door down San Bernardo Avenue and he ran until he got to Hotel Eva, where then he just tried to hide behind cards in the parking lot, but he was surrounded. And by now this was all being live streamed by a woman who went by La Gorliloca Oh wow, Brisila via real who this is what she did. She had a Facebook page with over one hundred thousand followers, and she filmed and broadcasted these kinds of things like that was her job. And so she was at the scene already. And I don't remember which one of the victims, but one of their family members ended up watching the live stream. But at this point nobody knew that that it was him. No, that Janelle and Oh they didn't know they had been killed. Yeah, they had no idea because well, everything again happened so fast after after Eddieka escaped the other two. He didn't he did that so fast, and so like their family members were watching and they had no idea that their own family members had been murdered by this man. Oh that's terrible, it is. And so while this was all being live streamed, police were surrounded him. Jus was hiding in the bed of a truck in this parking lot and he got on Facebook and posted to my wife and kids, I love you, and then he posted doc or these checks out farewell, I shaid the fuck up just three years off in God. Yeah. So at some point he tried to point his gun, like point his phone like a gun maybe to try and like have the cops kill him and you know, like do it. Let's try to do. Death by cop or what is it called, something like that, something like that. But it didn't work, and at two three four am he came out with his hands in the air and he was arrested. And once they got to the police station, he refused to talk until they let him, what is it? They brought him a picture of his wife and kids, like, go now, you want to be a family man, now after you've murdered all these people and you've like please, but who was this man? I guess, I guess I'll talk about him. His arrest came at a time when Border Patrol was under public scrutiny. Personally, they should always be under public scrutiny and shouldn't exist. But agreed. But his arrest again in twenty eighteen, it was under It was a time when Border Patrol was under public scrutiny for accepting unqualified applicants. So then people kept asking, well, how could they let us heeral killer in? How could they not see this? But like on paper, he seemed like a highly qualified applicant. And I would argue that this is the exact type of person that is attracted to institutions like Board Patrol. Yeah, I would argue the same, Yeah, a violent person, because this is a violent agency. Like, how are you going to tell me that a good person is going to join an agency that tells their employees to destroy water for dying migrants, who watches dying migrants in their face and refuses to get medical help for them. Yeah, who constantly rape women and children? Who randomly shoots into Mexico? Right, please? So to me? Of course, of course it's no surprise. But again, not everyone's there yet. Not everybody understands this, I think. Yeah, so, like I was saying on paper, he was the perfect candidate. He was born in Brownsville, Texas, the oldest of four kids and a single parent household his mom. He went to gladys Porter Early College high school, where he ran cross country. He swam competitively. He was a member of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and a member of the Assembly of God Church, a youth group in the church. Shocking, yes, and all. This was emphasized during the trial to show that he was a quote all American boy. Those are red flags if anything, except the cross country, except the swimming and cross Nope, except the cross country. Yeah, swimming is a red flag. Sorry, didn't he used to swim? No swimming competitive being in sports, oh not recreationally. A quote A good sorry, A quote, good Christian man who was suffering from mental health. End quote. I'm sorry, you know, good man. Don't go on killing spreeds. Yeah, it doesn't matter. How you want to twist this shit around like good people don't go on killing spreez. Yeah. Period one month after his eighteenth birthday, before nine to eleven happened, he had enlisted in the US Navy as a coreman, so a medic. He was attached to the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center in twenty nine Palms in California. His union was deployed to Baghdad in two thousand and three, where he saw intense combat. As that's probably where he practiced serial killer killing the first time. Right. Again, we don't say this like we know not all soldiers, right, but it is a fact that wherever the US military goes, sexual assaults increase. Yeah, and so it happened in these places. So after he met his wife, he got married. Then he was stationed in Fort sam Houston in the Training Support Center, and he got a bachelor's degree during that time. And then in two thousand and nine he left the Navy and joined Border Patrol pretty much right away, though he did consider the San Antonio Police Department, but this part okay, So, but he went with Border Patrol because, according to a friend quote, he didn't just want to stop the bad guys. He wanted to use his medical skills to help migrants who had been traveling for days in the desert just to get to the US end. Quote sure, that's what I'm sorry, that's not what Border Patrol does. If you want to do that, join a non profit organization like Alotlado, who does leave water for migrants and care packages. Yeah. In his spare time from Border Patrol, he worked on a master's degree in international relations, which he earned in twenty thirteen. He rose through the ranks and was promoted to intelligence supervisor in twenty seventeen, putting his international whatever the hell it was called, degree to use. Yeah. Though he was again rising through the rings, he was texting an old marine friend about how hard border patrol was. He would tell his friend, like, it feels like he was back in Iraq, that he was going to war every day. Oh what if you just quit? Hold on? Hold on again, I swear to god. His friend told him, quote, Doc, you're a good guy. You need to take care of yourself and your family. Have you thought about quitting Border patrol? Wow? Wow? Did you what an idea? But Juan da Vidortiz replied that he couldn't do that because he was doing his best to help all the people who need a help. Again, who was he actually helping? Is there any like no record of him actually helping migrants, because like there's maybe like one story out there of an actual border patrol officer helping you know, migrants. You hear about that, especially more back. In the day, you know, now I think it's less yeah common now, So I'm just so doubtful of that. No, me too. He wanted probably more opportunity to terrorize people, and that's why he couldn't lead to feel he was addicted to that feeling of power. The power, yes, the so like he had never had any disciplinary actions within bord patrol. The only thing on record. Disciplined anybody, That's why, But go ahead. No they don't. But the only thing on record is that a migrant after he was apprehended by Juan, a migrant reported that he took a cigarette from him. But he stole a cigarette from him. So I don't think stealing cigarettes from migrants is helping them. Well, he's helping them to not smoke. You know what, Let the migrants smoke. Okay, you already caught them, Like a migrant's been thrown off, No, but seriously, and so in his personal life everything seemed fine. He had just bought a house with his wife and Sonny in the Signey Sea throw ran of La neighborhood of Laredo. He spent all his free time with his kids and wife, except for Saturdays, where he went hunting or fishing with his best man, Jerry Solie. I was going to say where he went hunting for sex workers. I mean. On Sundays he attended the First Assembly of God church with his family, and FYI, this is an evangelical church. I'm just on this fact. It is evangelical. The number one what is that word? Supporters of Trump. Yeah, very godly of them. This picture perfect American dream life was not real. At some point, Juanda Vidortis went to the VA and was prescribed some sort of medication. The VA has never disclosed what this was because they were like confidentiality patient confidentially obviously we can't say that. But Jerry Soli, his friend, said that he Juana Juan or Thiez, had told him he'd been prescribed antipsychotic medication and he would also see him drinking and insane him ount while on this medication, which probably doesn't mix well. Yeah. At some point in the summer of twenty eighteen, or thieves also showed Jerry solisa picture of a young woman on his phone and he said he met her at Gold's gym. And Jerry was like, what the fuck? What? What about your wife? Man? What about your wife and kids? Yeah, you're really gonna throw this all away for some random girlfriend you suddenly have. This wasn't a girlfriend. It was Melissa Ramirez, his first victim. Oh wow, just days. After showing Jerry Solisa's picture Juan dirie Rothe's murderer. Wow. And he probably. Would have been able to continue to hide his crimes very easily because of his position within border patrol. But this all went downhill when Eddie got pen escaped. If she had not escaped and had not given his exact address like, he would have kept doing this. Yeah. When news of who he was and his past came to light, people kept talking about his PTSD his mental health, citing it as the reason for what he had done. But no, please, he was misogynistic. He talked about hating sex workers even though he regularly sought their services. They always do that shit. They always do that, and it's like, yes, he had PTSD, but the problem is his extreme misogyny and hatred of women. Yeah, and this already normalized cultural violence. And then he was in spaces where because violence is normalized in our society already, right, as well as misogyny, but he was in these spaces where it was even more, even more normalized. Praise even expected the military, the evangelical church, Yes, stay mad about it. Border patrol. Yeah. And I'm not sure if it was during his confession or during the trial or both where he would say this, or he would say sex workers were quote scum of the earth, trash and that he was quote cleaning up the street. Of course, of course he said that, and again he was out here regularly seeking their services. Like, but they do this, the kind of people that have the mentality. Somehow it never applies to them, even though again they are the ones looking for it too. It's not their fault. It's always a women's fault. It's a sex fault, not his fault that he's seeking out, they're enticing him. It's probably his fault. And oh not sorry, it's probably their fault and his wife's fault. Somehow too. Yeah, probably, although I can't confirm that in this case that that was ever believed anyway. Days after his arrest, one hundred and fifty mourners gathered, including the families of the women. Claudine Luerra's sister said, quote, but what you have to understand is that all of these women grew up in our community. We love them and cared for them. We always felt hoped they would changed. You might not understand this, but we never turn our backs on our loved ones just because they are going through hard times. That's part of our culture down here. End quote. And yes, yes, the community came together to donate money for Melissa Ramidez's cremation because the first thing that her mother, Christina Bernavina said after the police left was like, how am I going to tell my grandkids? And how am I going to pay for a funeral? So they came together to contribute for this. Erica Pena who escaped, she was so traumatized by her encounter with Juanda vid Ortiz that she couldn't go outside. She barely ate or slept. When she sleep, she had nightmares that he was chasing her in his white truck and through all this the trial, his wife continued to support juandavidrtis, Oh my god, I'm sorry, but if I would never stand by a man period not end of sentence, No further information necessary. No, like I know they said, through sickness and whatever, but like in this a killing spree. No, no, no. But she believed that it was her fault because she encouraged him to go to the vier and the medications to the via gave him caused all of this. It wasn't the medication. It was a hatred of woman and his supposed moral superiority, fueled by his environment, and her belief that it's her fault is also fueled by her environment the evangelical church. Yeah. During the trial, he said that the reason he did it was to clean up the streets, that as he drove down San Bernardo in Laredo, he felt quote the monster come out. That's not a monster, that a man. Yeah, that's not a monster, that's the patriarchy. He so he he I think the first At some point he he pled not guilty to everything, despite his detailed and lung confession, which he said he was like, what's it called coerce to do? Because he was like not not. When he was arrested, and then he was brought in supposedly, the detective was like, listen, you already messed up. We already know you did this. If you confess your at least your wife can have your pension and you will be she'll be taken care of. And that sounds like something they would say. Honestly, it sounds like things they say normally. Yeah, yeah, yeah, so whatever to me, that doesn't sound like I don't know, I I don't know if that's coercion. I think that's their usual line of questioning and explanation and manipulation, which they are legally. Yeah, I'm not saying it's right, but legally yeah, they're allowed to lie to you. Yeah. And so yeah, they were trying to say there was no evidence, but again, the weapon was in his house, right, so or on him. I don't one of the two for sure. But so the detailed and lung confession, which led them to the two other women that they didn't even know had been murdered. When he was arrested, he led them straight to them like please. Yeah. So all this was shown to the jury, along with autopsy pictures and one juror was dismissed after the autopsy pictures because he fainted when he saw them. Oh wow, that's how impactful it was. On day five of the trial, he again is when he shared his motive that he wanted to clean the streets up because no one else was doing it. Apparently again he sought out these services, so right. Also he told his friend Melissa Raminez was his girlfriend. So a different woman who spoke to the Guardian anonymously under Anna Karen. I don't think this was included in the trial. I think this happened way after. She talked to the Guardian. But she said that Juandais was a regular client of hers and that he was always talking about Eddie Gapa, the woman who escaped from him, and when meeting Anna Karen, he would ask about Edika. Does Edika use needles? Does Ediga take showers? Does Edika have hepatitis? And the woman would be like, can we talk about me? Like please? He would say that Edika was the only one who'd been to his house and that Anna Karen could be the second to ever go to his house, but that he was obsessed with eddieka Pa. Wow, so this doesn't sound like someone trying to clean up the streets. Well, no, because we know that wasn't real. Yeah, but luckily he was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Surprisingly, the I don't remember who was a judge who was like, the death sentence is not going to be considered because this is Texas. Like, I'm just surprised. I don't agree with the death sentence or with the death sentence, but it was off the table. But he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. And after the verdict, family members of the victims gave their impact statements. Melissa Tremds, his sister in law, said that she was quote a loving, kind and funny person and the hearts of Melissa's children are now broken. She asked Juanna Vidertis if he knew how much pain he caused their family, and then she said that her heart is torn apart, knowing that she won't to be able to see Melissa, but to visit her in the cemetery. Oh And in. Separate interviews, family members of the women have stated again and again how most online reporting of them refers to them as just sex workers, as if that makes it okay what happened to them. And so whenever they talk with reporters, they share memories and make sure to know that these women had lives outside of their work. Yeah, because they did. They were loved by their families. Janelle Ortica's sister, rossend artis who the rossend ARTISTO used him pronouns for Janelle, so she said, quote, he was so sweet with me. He really loved me. When I heard about what happened, I was in shock. I didn't know what to do. I drownded my tears. I just couldn't believe my brother would die that way. I don't think I'll ever accept the fact that he's gone forever, but I just have to live with it. End quote. And the two bonded over makeup and dressing cue after Janelle came out as trans and Janelle was burying her favorite red dress, which when Arita give me chose I know this part almost this part made me cry. When Aretha Franklin had passed away and they were showing like, you know, the funeral on TV genor Thesas with her family, and she was wearing that red dress and she was like twirling in the red dress. She loved Aria Franklin, and then she was like in the red dress, and she's like, this is how I want to go, like when I go in my red dress. And so they buried her in her favorite red dress and they took the flower behind her ear. Oh and it's it's wild to come across comments about this case because so many of them are empathizing with Juan da Vidor Theisa and his family. How well, let me tell you what some of the comments said. Okay, go on, It's sad to see a good man go from good to evil. I would argue maybe he started his evilness a little bit before he did these things. Because someone also, I have a problem with painting this kind of thing as evil. That's not a real man, you know, that kind of thinking, because because it is, this is the extreme end of misogyny. Yeah, this is what the patriarchy causes. This is what toxic masculinity causes. Yeah, so it's not you know, it's not rare. I mean, it's common. I don't know. I just I just don't like when people say that. But obviously no, I agree, they're stupid. Another one I saw how horrible for his family that something broke in this good man's mind and made him do this. I don't I don't think something broke in his mind. I think I think he hated woman, he hated sex workers, and he hated himself, and because he is was a repressed, uh toxic man, he acted out violently, Yeah, instead of uh going therapy or something. I don't, right, I don't know. I don't know. No, I don't know. And obviously, yes, it's terrible for his family, right, his family, but him, Like, I don't know, I don't know. Like I don't know how to fully feel about those comments, except that I don't fully agree. Yet I do feel that that empathy should always and forever be extended to the women he murdered and the entire. Families who are them. Yeah, their children, their sisters, their dads, they're I mean, come on, yeah. And I want to end with the quote I found by Christa Daring, executive director of Sex Workers Outreach Project USA, and she said, part of what is so saddening about these murders is that they are so commonplace, and sex workers in general, but specifically those working outside, must decide every day to risk their safety in order to survive. The societal stigma against sex work is a primary driving force behind this violence, and murders of sex workers typically goes unreported. Yeah and yeah, that is completely true. And I don't know, I mean, whenever true crime podcasts talk about this case, it's like obviously most of them because there's more information about you know, the perpetrator than the victims. But like it's. Like going through everything but not emphasizing that, like, sex workers face this type of violence the most. And another thing, I know that you know, everyone likes to hate on OnlyFans, but only fans gives power to sex workers because they are their own bosses and they are able to do their work online instead of being out on the street. Well, it's like this christa daring cent on her quote. Yeah, specifically those working outside, yeah are in the most danger. Yeah, and it's true. But I did want to give a shout out to Well, you all know we love Laney Laney's podcast, True Crime Cases with Laney, But when Laney talked about this this case shows an episode on this, Yes, but you wouldn't know it because almost the whole thing she just talks about the victims. She just talks about them and I find it. Yeah, i'll give you the title. I just sent it to me. Yeah, well, i'll give you the title. Give me the title, but send it to me. It's just titled the latter the serial Killer. Okay, but she She even starts out the episode talking about how the unfortunate reality is that the perpetrators of violent crime disproportionately target specific groups of women, people of color, members of the LGBTQ community, users, and sex workers, and the victims of this man were all of those things. Yeah, so, but yeah, it's a yeah, it's a very informative episode on this, and yeah, I mean we should always, I don't know, remember them obviously, And yeah, I think, if not deal with but like, how do you get I don't know, get rid of the stigma of sex work? And oh, okay, I was waiting for you to finish because I was about to say that, Oh thank you. You're probably gonna say it in a much better way than I. Yeah, we need to get over our hatred of sex workers, because yeah, the stigma around sex work makes their work unsafe. And not only does it make their work unsafe, but it also brings shame to them. Right, So then they're if they're wanting to leave that work, they're less likely to leave that work because now they feel stuck. And it also so makes victims of sex trafficking less likely to come forward and seek help because now there's a stigma type you know, to them as supposed sex workers, although sex trafficking obviously is not the same. Yeah, And that's why feminism is important. But not not just any old timinism, you know what I mean, because there is feminism, like an intersectional feminism. Yeah, then includes everyone. Not the other. There's turfs, there's swarfs, not all of those. Yeah. And then like you know, people are always certain, people are always talking about saying the children pizza gain blah blah blah. But all of that for a lot of it's not real. Also, second, a lot of that would never happen if sex work was destigmatized in the first place. So yeah, and safer. So yeah, it starts with carrying about all people, right, Yeah, bottom line, at the end of the day, have empathy, care about others, and don't judge others unless it's for things like going on killing sprees and being a border patrol agent. Yes, thank you, Wow. Perfect, And with that we will take a break here and come back with spooky recommendations or what do they call it on kuts pooky. They have a good name for a palate cleanser. Okay, and we're back. Do you have either a spooky recommendation or something to make us feel happiness? Again? There's my phone. I listened to listen to your Sister by Nina velh have heard this. I was gonna ask you about it because I saw it on your story graph. Yeah and again, Okay, I know like you and another one in my friends they see anything with low A four and they're like, why didn't you like it? And I'm like, no, I liked it. A three is alike. Okay. I was like me what Then I was like, oh, that's yeah, you're right, yeah, yeah, So I read it three point seventy five out of five. For me, three means I like it, but there are some. Things that you did. I didn't like and I didn't love it for it to be a four. But ratings are subjective and it was an adorable book, I think. Okay, let me just read the description. Okay. Twenty five year old Kala Williams is struggling since becoming guardian to her brother Jamie. Calla is overwhelmed and tired of being the one who makes the sacrifices to keep the family together. Jamie, full of good natured sixteen year old recklessness, is usually off fighting for what matters to him or getting into mischief, often at the same time. Dre, their brother, promised he would help raise Jamie, but now the ink is dry on the paperwork, and in classic middle child fashion, he's off doing his own thing. And through it all, the nightmare never stops haunting Calla, carrying images of her brother's dying that she's powerless to stop. When Jamie's actions at a protest spiral out of control, the siblings must go on the run, taking refuge in a remote cabin that looks like it belongs on the slasher movie poster rather than an airbnb. The siblings now face the new threat, where their lives and reality hanging in the balance. Their sister always warned them about her nightmares. They really should have listened. So I love the premise. I'm like, well, what's going on here? So I liked the sibling dynamics. I liked the horror was good. I just think for me, it was a little bit too and it could have been that I listened to the audiobook instead of reading it, so we have three different point of views, and sometimes you talk about the past and something's a present, so that makes it a little tricky for audiobook. So I think, yeah, it would have been better if I read it. And then I think the once they're in the in the horror, it lasts a little bit too long. It's a little true, too drawn out, like some parts of it. Yeah, but it was really good still, and like I would describe it as like an elder sisters or elder siblings assumed responsibilities and resentments coming to life. Okay, I love that. Yeah, So I, like I said, it's so really good and I think that people would enjoy it. Just for me, I think the audiobook was a little bit harder to follow, and I think it could have been shorter, Like I think, I think it would have been better for shorter Okay, yeah, nice, all right, I might check it out. I am currently reading The Hunting of Room nine oh four by Erica T. Worth, but I am only like thirty percent through, so I can't say fully if I recommend it or not yet. But the premise sounded cool enough, so let me share that really quick. Olivia Becente was never supposed to have the gift. The ability to commune with the dead was the specialty of her sister, Niche knightsch I don't remember how, I don't know how to say it. But when the sister dies, I can't say her name. I'm sorry. Dies unexpectedly and under strange circumstances. Somehow, Olivia suddenly can't stop seeing and hearing from spirits. A few years later, she's the most in demand paranormal investigator in Denver. She's good at her job, but the loss of her sister haunts her. That's what she hears from the Brown Palace, a landmark Denver hotel. The owner can't explain it, but every few years a girl is found dead in room nine oh four, no matter what room she's checked into the night before. As Olivia tries to understand these disturbing deaths, the past and present collide as Olivia's investigation forces her to confront a mysterious and possibly dangerous cult, a vindictive journalist, betrayal by her friend friends, and shocking revelations about her sister's secret life. So I mean it had me at someone dying in room nine oh four. Every it was a year, every few years, even though that's not the room they slept in. Like the minute that I saw that, I was like, I must, I must check this out. So again, I'm not fully done with it. I don't know if I can recommend it or not. I do have an actual recommendation, though, I just want to share that that's what I was reading. I went to watch twenty eight years later, and I do recommend it. I think you and I were already talked. Oh fuck, I dropped my fitches. I know you and I were already talking about it, and I was telling Carmen that, like, I saw a lot of complaints about it and not being not feeling like a sequel, And I do agree that it doesn't feel like a sequel, but I don't care. But you're fine with that. I'm fine with that. It doesn't matter to me because it feels like just an installment in the universe of these zombies of twenty eight years later or twenty weeks days whatever. It's like it's happening in the same place, in the same but it's not a continuation of like the same exact people. You know. It's just a story within this universe, and it's a coming of age story, if anything. I love coming of age stories. Yes, a story of a young person realizing that their father is not who they thought they were. I love that, Yes, because when we when you come to that realization, your world shatters and you're fine later, you know, but for that moment in time when you're grappling with that, wow wow, it's like who who even at my life changing? And so and naturally because of this discovery, he wants to reject his father, but because of what his father has taught him, he's able to survive. Wow wow wow wow. And love how you said that too, Like that may me want to watch it. At first, I'm like, I don't really care if I watch it, But now that you described it that way, it makes me want to watch it. If if you don't go into it expecting a straight up zombie movie, which I never do, I'm therefore the drama. It's like drama in a zombie universe, right yeah, yeah, and so again I love a comment of h story. And then you know, someone realizing their father's not who there they were grappling with that it's when you look at it from that lens, it's it's a beautiful story. The the way it was shot is also so interesting, like it plays with the normal like movie format to me, Like it's not like a straight up like like there's some scenes where they almost seem like jarring, like just like jumping. Okay, yeah, one sing to another or like just the way it was shot. But yeah, it's beautiful. Also like the I don't think this is very much spoilers. I think this is in the trailer, but they're on an island and like there's this and this is like this is a real island, but like it's connect to it's a real place, it's a real place. It's connected to like England or Britain. Sorry, I'm at the difference, and like there's I googled it once and I freaga already. Yeah, I'm sorry. But there's like water that whenever it's a high tide, the path is covered, you can't go you can't go there at the time. Fuel Yes, but it works if you're trapped. Yeah, but it also works if you're like trying to stay safe from zombies. They can't cross at a certain time, you know, true. So yeah, I loved it. I loved it. I do recommend it. If you're not expecting just another sequel or like zombies alone, then yes. But if you're like, no, I don't want any coming of age story, I hate kids, I can't watch it, then don't them kids. But I love a coming of age story I know. Yeah, same, yeah, same, So yeah, that's that's why I do recommend it. And so yeah, I feel that we have reach the end of the episode. Unless you have anything else to share, no, I think that's it. Okay, all right, and in that case, stay a spooky. We'll catch e ryuin next time. Bye Bye. As Book Tells is hosted by Christina and Carmen, produced and edited by Christina, researched by Christina Carmen and with the help of Don shout out with Don. If you aren't joining the podcast considerably going to say five star review, we would really appreciate it. If you don't want to the professor review, just don't leave a review, but don't leave anything lower than that, please, I'm just kidding. You can reach out to the podcast at a Spooktels at gmail dot com. You can go to our website at bookitos dot com and fill out the contact form. If you want to support the podcast, you can join our Patreon where we send exclusive stickers, have bonus episodes. Eight dollar members get an exclusive key chain. It's super cool. I got new ones and these ones are huge. And if you want to support, but you can or don't want to join the Patreon, that's fine too. We can also get some merch. You can find shurets to say a spooky and old English letters. There's a beanie. I love the beanie. There's also a hat. There's a no Mamus shirt which is a fan favorite. There's a lot of options, crap tops, sweaters. It's almost swetter weather. We're nearing a Spookie season, so yeah, get your hoodies. You're gonna need them. If you don't want to do all that, that's fine too. You can just listen like you're listening now, and that's the best support that you can give us, like I always say in our ad break and yeah, if you like history, you can follow Estoria's Unknown Mining, Carmen's other podcasts, and you can find as spooky tails on all of our socials at Spooky Tells All. This is in the show notes and we appreciate every single listen. Thank you so much. Stay as spooky