The Devil Behind the Badge

The Horrifying Twelve Days of the Border Patrol Serial Killer

By: Rick Jervis

Narrated by: Timothy Andrés Pabon

The shocking true-crime story of a U.S. Border Patrol agent turned serial killer, the four sex workers whom he mercilessly killed, and the upended border town of Laredo where his heinous crimes occurred.

Twelve days is all it took.

Melissa Ramirez, Claudine Anne Luera, Guiselda Hernandez, and Janelle Ortiz were four marginalized women striving to make ends meet as sex workers. They looked out for one another. But they would soon share a connection that none of them could have imagined. When Melissa was found dead, the other three women were on edge but assumed they were safe. Twelve days later, they too were dead and police had detained an unlikely suspect—Juan David Ortiz, a ten-year veteran of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, where he carried a badge, a service revolver, and was entrusted to protect the community in which he eventually killed. From September 3 through September 15, 2018, Ortiz, a husband and doting father to three children, lured his victims into his white Dodge truck and drove them to the outskirts of town where he violently executed them, leaving them dead or dying on the sides of dark, rural roads.

In this fast-paced, electrifying tick-tock, Pulitzer Prize–winning USA TODAYjournalist Rick Jervis tells the gripping story of the four murders that shook the small border town of Laredo, and the quest to unmask a cold, calculated killer who was hiding in plain sight. The Devil Behind the Badge is also a deeply human portrait of the four lives lost and an attempt to uncover what motivated Ortiz’s descent into darkness. Along the way, it raises serious questions about the border crisis, the abuse of law enforcement, and the challenges of a federal agency to police its own ranks.

Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.

So good, learned so much!

I absolutely loved it! So informative while being a nail bitter. Laredo, TX life, sex workers, & drug abuse.

Fantastically written and researched

Great book! The narrator’s pronunciation of “San Bernardo” slowly killed me over time. He was great otherwise.

well done

my only criticism is that I didn't know what most of the Spanish meant. translations would have been helpful but I didn't lose any context. this was well researched and told.

Great true crime story

I wasn’t sure about this book at first but it quickly became fascinating as the author developed the characters excellently and the hard to believe killer began his terror.

Unbelievable

A very sad story very well told. The author presents the case in a “just the facts” manner.

One note to the Audible team: it would be worthwhile for all performers to have a preview of the words in each book. In this case, "Bexar" County is actually pronounced "Bear." I've noticed this even with common names of well known people.