By DD, from material in Dallas Morning News
and Borderland Beat Archives
Borderland Beat has covered the case of Guerrero Chapa's murder extensively. The story of his murder can be read here; the arrest of the 3 defendants in this case can be head here; Guerrero Chapa's role in cartel here.
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| photo Dallas Morning News |
Ladezma Campano and his father, both Mexican citizens, were arrested in McAllen Texas while crossing the border more than a year after the shooting in Southlake. The cousin, Jose Luis Cepeda Cortes, a legal US resident, was arrested at his home in Edinburg Texas.
The three defendants are alleged to have stalked Guerrero Chapo for 2 years using more than a half dozen vehicles, hidden surveillance cameras at the entrance gate to the subdivision where Guerrero Chapa lived. The alleged stalkers also are accused of putting a GPS tracking device on the victims Range Rover
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| Guerrero Chapa's home in Southlake for which he paid $1.2 million cash |
As part of the secret plea deal Ladezma Campano agreed to tesitify against the other defendants. The trial of Ladezma Camano and Jose Luis Cepeda Cortes is to begin this coming Monday, April 25, in Federal court in Fort Worth, Texas. Southlake is a suburb of Fort Worth. A defense attorney said that the defense could call as many as 60 witnesses.
Three other people have been charged in sealed indictments because they remain fugitives. It’s unclear what role they played in the slaying.
The killer has not been publicly identified or charged.
With all the witnesses to be called in the upcoming trial, mostly law enforcement, people involved or knowledgable in organized crime activities, the testimonies may reveal more of the inner workings of the cartels than any previous trial. It should prove interesting. Most of your cartel heads never go to trial, they almost always plead guilty, So public trials where all the nitty gritty details are laid out is actually pretty rare
It should be safe to assume that all of the defendants and the others named in the sealed indictments were acting on orders from a Mexican cartel. It would not be inexpensive to support and provide funds for the alleged stalkers for 2 years. They even bought 2 vehicles in the US, some might say junkers, that wouldn't be noticed in their surveillance work.
One of the first questions I would have is why did they stalk Guerrero Chapa for two years before he was killed. Surely that had earlier opportunities. What was going on behind the scenes?
Below is the Criminal Complaint filed with the court.
