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2013 Southlake murder suspect added to FBI’s Most Wanted List
The victim was an attorney for a rival Mexican drug cartel who later turned u-s government informant. He was living a quiet life in Southlake when he was fatally shot in public in 2013.
SOUTHLAKE, Texas - A $1 million reward is up for grabs as the FBI searches for a man known as El Gato who they believe murdered a man in Southlake back in 2013.
Investigators believe a personal feud between the two men dating back decades was the motive behind the hit.
The victim was an attorney for a rival Mexican drug cartel who later turned u-s government informant. He was living a quiet life in Southlake when he was fatally shot in public in 2013.
Jose Villarreal-Hernandez, or El Gato, has become the latest person to be placed on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitive List.
The FBI says Villarreal-Hernandez ordered a hit on 43-year-old Juan Guerrero-Chapa. The husband and father was fatally shot in his SUV in the parking lot of Southlake Town Square in May 2013.
Guerrero-Chapa's wife witnessed the murder. She and her husband were there to shop and buy frozen yogurt.
“This is the latest development in a case that has seen the arrest of five individuals,” said Matthew DeSarno, with the FBI Dallas Field Office. “Conviction of three individuals who tracked and stalked the victim and one individual who is extradited and is awaiting trial.”
The man awaiting trial is Villarreal-Hernandez's brother. He’s accused of paying the unidentified shooter and getaway driver. Both of them are still at large.
Guerrero-Chapa was an attorney for the Mexican Gulf Cartel. He became a U.S. government informant and quietly moved to Southlake with his family.
Investigators believe that Villarreal-Hernandez, who is part of the Beltran Leyva Drug Cartel in Mexico, ordered the hit on Guerrero-Chapa.
“Investigators believe that Villarreal-Hernandez had a personal vendetta against the victim,” DeSarno said.
At the time of Guerrero-Chapa's death, investigators found a tracker underneath the couple's SUV. The FBI believes he had been stalked over the course of two years in both North Texas and Florida.
Villarreal-Hernandez faces charges of interstate stalking and conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire.
“As an alleged leader in the drug trafficking organization, he was partly responsible of the deportation of illicit drugs into the United States as well as the violence that often accompanies drug trafficking,” said Calvin Shivers, with the FBI Criminal Investigation Division.
"We will not rest until he is arrested and faces these charges,” DeSarno said.
Villarreal-Hernandez is believed to still be living in Mexico.
Placing him on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted List gives investigators international resources and exposure. A reward of up to $1 million is being offered for information directly leading to his capture.