Brenda Salazar worked the land and looked to the skies for her future. But everything changed on a hot day in May, when a predator found her first.
MORE MULTIMEDIA
CHAPTER 19
CHAPTER 13
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 7
- Armida's cousin tells police he last saw her with Andy Ortiz (pdf)
- 1997 Star-Telegram story: "Parolee, 23, sought in girl's rape and killing (pdf)
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 1
ABOUT THIS PROJECT
Boyd
McDonald
Madigan
Star-Telegram reporters Tim Madigan, Deanna Boyd and Melody McDonald spent a year immersed in the case files on three murders.
They sifted through boxes of evidence; reviewed thousands of pages of case notes, investigative documents and trial transcripts; and interviewed scores of sources.
"To Catch a Killer," presented in 24 parts, is based solely on that reporting. Several names were changed at the request of the sources and to protect victims.
Madigan, Boyd and McDonald's goal is to shed light on crime and policing on Fort Worth's North Side, in the hope of raising community awareness and, perhaps, inspiring action.
Project editor: Judy Wiley
Designer: Mark Hoffer
Copy editors: Kathy Harris, Scott Mitchell
Multimedia editor: Kathy Vetter
Videographer: M.L. Gray
Video editing: Adam Rodriguez, Jen Friedberg
Web design: Alex Russ III
Musical score: John Metz
TO CATCH A KILLER: WHO'S WHO
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CURT BRANNAN: The longtime Fort Worth homicide detective was lead investigator on two of the murders. He helped link Andy Ortiz to an unsolved case. |
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ANDY ORTIZ: A Fort Worth gang member who befriended and then preyed on very young girls for years, and rarely spent substantial time in jail. Finally, he turned to murder. |
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BRENDA SALAZAR: She escaped poverty in her hometown and hoped to be a flight attendant or pilot. She was 20 when she died in her apartment near D/FW Airport. |
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ARMIDA GARCIA: Fifteen and beautiful, she was last seen alive on her front porch with Ortiz, who had been pursuing her despite a big age difference. |
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KRYSTAL MINJAREZ: She was only 13 when she snuck out after a fight with her aunt and called Andy Ortiz for a ride. Her body was later found on the shores of Marine Creek Lake. |
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- Chapter 1 | A dream is shattered and a nightmare begins
- Chapter 2 | Amid loss and heartache, a desperate quest for justice
No nightmare could have been worse than the one Rosa Maria and Fermin Salazar were living that morning of May 28, 1997. Two days earlier, the body of their daughter Brenda had been found in her Fort Worth apartment, the strap used to strangle her still around her neck.
- Chapter 3 | A chance encounter leads to a dangerous friendship
Police see nothing but hatred in the eyes of Andy Ortiz, but young Armida Garcia finds the good in everyone.
- Chapter 4 | Opportunities missed and young lives forever damaged
Most entries in Andy Ortiz's criminal dossier concerned typical gang stuff. But several police reports detailed more sinister allegations, such as one in which the victim was a 13-year-old girl.
- Chapter 5 | Teenager pays a terrible price for a dangerous friendship
The collect calls kept coming from the Tarrant County Jail, at least until Armida Garcia's father saw the charges on the telephone bill.
- Chapter 6 | A new detective catches the case, vows to find the truth
Rookie homicide detective Joe Thornton takes on his toughest case: the rape and strangulation of 15-year-old Armida Garcia.
- Chapter 7 | A case builds against Ortiz, but will it be strong enough?
Police follow clues to a familar face on the north side.
- Chapter 8 | One phone call generates years of second-guessing
A detective's interview with suspect Andy Ortiz starts out promising but ends on a very troubling note.
- Chapter 9 | An encounter in an alley leads to a wall of silence
An 11-year-old girl thinks she saw who murdered Armida Garcia, but two frightened mothers keep the witness a secret.
- Chapter 10 | The legacy of the Garcia case: missteps, disputes and regret
Prosecutor Robert Foran tells Detective Joe Thornton that his case against Andy Ortiz in the murder of Armida Garcia is not strong enough to take to court. Some detectives bitterly disagree.
- Chapter 11 | For a naive young wife, the darkness comes to light
Anna has much in common with the other girls. She is young, pretty and Hispanic, with dark hair and dark eyes.
- Chapter 12 | For detective, a mysterious trail starts at the water's edge
The corpse was on its back, its feet dangling toward the water. The body, dressed in what looked like blue pants and a blue and green shirt, was bloated and discolored. The killer had struck again.
- Chapter 13 | In the dead of night, a girl goes on a dangerous ride
A Crowley woman grows increasingly concerned about her missing young niece.
- Chapter 14 | As police identify victim, a familiar suspect emerges
Fort Worth detectives get a huge lead after looking thorough the address book of a girl found dead on the shore of Marine Creek.
- Chapter 15 | A frightening question: How many other victims?
While searching the Ortiz home for evidence in a girl's murder, investigators open the door to even darker possibilities.
- Chapter 16 | Girls from Ortiz's past help piece together a dark puzzle
Detectives try to locate more than 100 young women whose names and telephone numbers were found in the bedroom of murder suspect Andy Ortiz. Then, Detective Curt Brannan gets surprising phone call.
- Chapter 17 | Suspect is willing to talk, but how much will he say?
By playing "good cop," Detective Curt Brannan inches closer to the truth about a girl's murder.
- Chapter 18 | An angry crony tries to get Ortiz to talk about murder
They grew up together on the north side, but Michael Olguin wouldn't take the fall for his buddy Andy when it came to murder.
- Chapter 19 | A stunning connection puts police on brink of an arrest
Restless on an August night, Detective Curt Brannan wonders: Was an unsolved 1997 slaying also the ork of Andy Ortiz?
- Chapter 20 | The beginning of the end for Ortiz
Detective Brannan had never anticipated an arrest with greater relish than the one he planned to make. With both fingerprint and DNA evidence, Brannan felt he had nailed Andy James Ortiz for at least one murder.
- Chapter 21 | Ortiz is off streets, but tales of brutality keep emerging
Murder suspect Andy Ortiz is finally behind bars, and the families of three victims are relieved. But as word spreads, more young women contact Fort Worth police to describe their own dark encounters with the notorious north side predator.
- Chapter 22 | A stunning secret revealed
Detective Curt Brannan uncovers the truth about what a young witness saw in an alley on the night Armida Garcia was killed.
- Chapter 23 | Case closes with a final twist
Andy Ortiz has to answer for his young victims and their shattered families. But will he pay the ultimate price?
- Chapter 24 | 'I'm not going to admit to nothing that I didn't do'
Andy Ortiz spends his days in isolation at a Texas prison. To prison guards, he is known as a "cell warrior," a prisoner who talks a big game when his cell doors are locked, but is meek and mild when he is outside.
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