Federal prosecutors in Fort Worth are looking to prove that three Mexican cartel hitmen stalked the lawyer of a cartel boss living in Texas for years before gunning him down in front of his wife in a mall parking lot.
Prosecutors began their case against the three accused sicarios – the Mexican term for hitmen – Tuesday after having gone through the process of jury selection Monday. The prosecutors’ on the case allege that [Jose Luis] Cepeda-Cortes “admitted to stalking the victim,” the Fort Worth Star Telegram reports.
While one of the suspects – Cortes – fessed up to stalking slain Gulf Cartel counselor Juan Jesus Guerrero Chapa, he denies having kept tabs on Guerrero in his final weeks. In response to this denial, prosecutors have stated that their evidence “will show this [claim] is false,” according to the Telegram.
Guerrero was shot while in his parked Range Rover outside a Banana Republic in the ritzy suburb of Southlake while his wife was putting bags in the car. The well to do lawyer was murdered after being stalked for over two years by his killers.
Besides being the personal lawyer of Supermax inmate Osiel Cardenas Guillen, Guerrero was an informant for the U.S. Department of Justice. Between being a DoJ informant and helping Cardenas arrange a plea deal with the feds that involved giving up $50 million, Guerrero had become a fat target for the cartels, with an even fatter price on his head.
Members of paramilitary cartel Los Zetas – made up of former Mexican special forces – felt betrayed by Cardenas and Guerrero which is why the hit was ordered on the coke addicted lawyer. Cardenas founded Los Zetas for his own protection and to be the enforcement wing of the Gulf Cartel.
However, since Cardenas’ incarceration, Los Zetas have split from the Gulf Cartel and gained significant power in their own right. Lawyers for the defense plan on alleging that Guerrero was the leader of the Gulf Cartel since the imprisonment of Cardenas.
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