EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) – El Paso County Sheriff’s deputies used the latest technology and combined it with some help from the FBI and some good old-fashioned police work to make an arrest in a recent murder that happened in far East El Paso.
Leopoldo Ortega, 25, was arrested and charged with murder in the death of 36-year-old Juan Oscar Becerra.
According to court documents obtained by KTSM, Ortega had at one time dated the victim’s estranged wife and continued to live with her even though their romantic relationship appeared to have ended.
He had also gotten into at least two altercations with the victim in the recent past, according to documents.
The same documents show that deputies made ample use of surveillance video to link the suspect to the murder.
Deputies responded to the victim’s home for a “welfare check” on Oct. 2 along the 12800 block of Barstow Avenue.
Becerra was found dead, with evidence at the time pointing to foul play, the Sheriff’s Office said.
The victim’s family told deputies he had not been seen for several days, and they were worried.
Deputies spoke with the victim’s brother, who said he had sent his girlfriend to check on his brother at his brother’s home. She noticed a “strong foul odor” and some blood on a vehicle parked at the property.
The brother said that he soon arrived and entered the home using a garage keypad. Once inside, he found the body of his brother inside one of the rooms.
According to court documents, the victim appeared to have been dead for several days and showed signs of decomposition, including a foul odor.
The brother told deputies that the victim’s two vehicles were missing. The brother told deputies that he believed whoever was responsible for his brother’s death had also stolen the vehicles.
The brother said that the victim had a security camera system installed at the home.
Deputies found that DVR units for the surveillance system were missing from the home. They also found that wires had been cut that would have connected to the recording system.
According to court documents, the brother told deputies that the victim had been separated from his wife for three years and that she was dating a man known only to him as “Polo.”
Twice in the past 18 months, the victim and the suspect had confrontations, the brother told deputies.
During the first, Polo “flipped off” his brother, which led to a brief verbal confrontation.
Another time, “Polo” allegedly threw a large rock at the victim’s vehicle.
During this stage of the investigation, deputies found a .45 caliber spent shell at the victim’s property on Barstow Avenue.
Two days after Becerra was discovered dead during a welfare check, deputies found one of his missing vehicles.
During the search of the pickup truck’s bed, they recovered two DVR devices. Both DVRs had power cables and connection wires that had been cut off.
The devices were sent to the FBI for forensic analysis.
Latent print processing of the vehicle also found several impressions, including a palm print located on the hood and driver’s door.
A print analyst identified four latent prints on the truck. Upon submission to the Automated Finger Print Identification System (AFIS), the prints were positively identified as belonging to Leopoldo Ortega, who is also known as “Polo.”
An autopsy also indicated that the victim sustained a single gunshot wound to the upper torso. His death was classified as a homicide.
The FBI also notified detectives that they had been able to successfully recover several video files from one of the DVRs found in the pickup truck.
After reviewing the footage, it was determined that the victim was shot and died on the night of Sept. 27.
Videos depicted a thin-built man entering the victim’s backyard by jumping over the rear wall. The video also shows the victim in the backyard and then a cloud of dust, consistent with the impact of a bullet, court documents said.
On Oct. 6, four days after Becerra was discovered dead, his second missing vehicle was found.
Detectives returned to the area where the second vehicle was found and recovered several surveillance videos from nearby homes.
The footage from recordings on Oct. 2 and 5 showed a thin-built male entering and exiting the car.
The same individual is seen walking toward and away from the vehicle at different times.
On Oct. 7, the victim’s estranged wife arrived at the Sheriff’s Office Headquarters, accompanied by an attorney.
She told deputies that Ortega was her roommate. She told deputies that he was “her best friend” and that they were previously in a romantic relationship but were no longer involved, according to court documents.
She said that on Oct. 4, he was arrested at her home. According to responding deputies, the suspect had been hallucinating and contacted the Sheriff’s Office because he thought someone was in the home.
The estranged wife told the suspect the following day to leave the home and that he was no longer welcome, according to court documents.
Deputies reviewed body-cam footage from Ortega’s arrest and saw a pair of white high-top Nike shoes, similar to what the suspect was wearing in other surveillance video that they had seen.
Deputies showed the estranged wife a still image from video footage from near where the second vehicle belonging to the victim was found.
The estranged wife identified the image as belonging to Ortega.
Detectives with the Sheriff’s Office were also able to obtain a search warrant for the suspect’s call records and found that his cellphone consistently connected to cell towers that placed him within proximity of the victim’s home.
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