Bullet holes show where Juan Jesus Guerrero Chapa was killed while sitting in his Range Rover.
Southlake took revenge against the rival cartel leader she believed was responsible by having his relative beheaded, according to witness testimony Friday.
That claim came during the federal trial here of two men accused of stalking Juan Jesus Guerrero Chapa prior to his May 2013 murder at Southlake Town Square.
Friday’s witness, Jesus Gerardo Ledezma Campano, testified for a second day against his father, Jesus Gerardo Ledezma Cepeda, 59, and their cousin, Jose Luis Cepeda Cortes, 60.
The father and son are accused of hunting down Guerrero Chapa over several months using high-tech surveillance equipment with help from their cousin. The assassin and getaway driver remain fugitives.
Jesus Gerardo Ledezma Cepeda
Gato had ordered the murder of Guerrero Chapa because he held the Gulf cartel lawyer responsible for his father’s murder in Mexico years earlier, Ledezma Campano said.
Juan Jesus Guerrero Chapa
After that, Gato had Ledezma Cepeda try to find Guerrero Chapa’s relatives living in the U.S., according to the son.
Guerrero Chapa’s sister, Dariela Chapa, is listed as a possible defense witness in the case. Her whereabouts were not disclosed Friday.
Killings continue
Ledezma Campano testified that the families of Gato and Guerrero Chapa have been feuding since both men were children.
And killings related to the decades-long hostility appear to continue.
As recently as Feb. 23, Guerrero Chapa’s brother-in-law was found shot
to death in Monterrey, Mexico.
Contact information for the dead man, Moises Tijerina De La Garza, was found in
Ledezma Cepeda’s emails, court records show.
Gato, a former federal agent in Mexico, claimed to have protection from the president of Mexico, according to Ledezma Campano. That claim could not be confirmed Friday with Mexican officials.
He said Gato and his brother would cross into the U.S. using the Trusted Traveler lanes made available by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The special lanes provide expedited travel for “pre-approved, low-risk travelers,” according to the federal agency.
Gato is considered a fugitive. The U.S. government has not released any information about him or offered a reward for his capture.
Ledezma Campano said Gato is a violent, short-tempered man who uses murder and torture — as well as an agreement with police — to remain in power. The son said Gato interrogated people in a tire shop with a bloody chain saw hanging on the wall.
The son said Gato’s former partner in the federal police, a man known as “Pelon,” also was involved in the conspiracy and traveled to North Texas with the defendants while they searched for Guerrero Chapa.
‘Clorox’ and the ‘Captain’
Ledezma Campano also gave more information about the man who is alleged to have shot Guerrero Chapa. He said the man earned the nickname “Clorox” because he always uses that brand of bleach to clean up after the work he did for Gato, the son said.
The getaway driver is known as “Captain” because he was a captain in the Mexican police, he said.
Both men also served as Gato’s bodyguards in Mexico, he said.
Cepeda Cortes’ attorney, Robert Rogers, suggested to Ledezma Campano during cross-examination Friday that he implicated his client in January in return for a deal with the government.
Rogers said Ledezma Campano previously told federal agents that his cousin did not know about a murder plot.
Ledezma Campano had faced life in prison. But because of his plea deal, he could receive 25 years to life. His sentence could further be reduced because he has agreed to help the government with unrelated criminal investigations.
Ledezma Campano said he has about 20 relatives in Monterrey, Mexico — including his wife — who have to keep moving to stay safe. He said they fear reprisals from Gato, Guerrero Chapa’s family and the Mexican government.
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