In 2018, four female sex workers were brutally murdered in the span of 12 days in Laredo, Texas, shocking their small border community. A few hours after the last victim was murdered, an unlikely suspect was arrested: a ten-year veteran of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection. During his trial, the prosecution argued that Juan David Ortiz used his role as a Border Patrol agent to methodically stay one step ahead of the investigation all along, an argument that eventually led to his successful conviction. What made this border guard decide to target four innocent women and carry out this heinous serial killing? USA TODAY National Correspondent Rick Jervis spent nearly five years getting the full story. He joins The Excerpt to share his reporting, all detailed in his new book, “The Devil Behind the Badge,” out on bookshelves now.

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