Posted on Thu, Feb. 28, 2008

Chapter 16 | Girls from Ortiz's past help piece together a dark puzzle

By TIM MADIGAN, with DEANNA BOYD and MELODY McDONALD

Star-Telegram Staff Writers

This series contains explicit language and graphic descriptions of violence.

Editor's note: To Catch a Killer is the true story of killer Andy James Ortiz, his young victims, and the Fort Worth police and Tarrant County prosecutors who brought him to justice.

The story so far

A search of the Ortiz home turned up artifacts of sexual obsession. Among the items confiscated were dozens of photographs of Hispanic girls, some of whom are shown being fondled by Andy Ortiz, and more than 100 slips of paper with girls' phone numbers written on them.

CHAPTER 16

For almost a week, Fort Worth Detective Curt Brannan had devoted all his energy to building a case against suspect Andy Ortiz in the strangulation of 13-year-old Krystal Minjarez. But now, with the contents seized from Ortiz's bedroom, the case had broadened exponentially. The names and telephone numbers of hundreds of girls needed immediate attention, so they were quickly divvied up among the detectives upon their return from searching the suspect's home.

Because of the sheer volume of names, the job went on for weeks. Day by day, as investigators located and spoke to more and more girls, the dark reality of Andy Ortiz became even clearer. Excerpts from police notes on those calls detail a predator who was as relentless as he was insatiable:

-- Jennifer, met on the phone when she just turned 15. Andy asked if she was a virgin. She refused to let him come to her house, he became angry and said he was a member of a gang called the Latin Kings, and would have two girls he knew who attended her school come "beat her ass."

-- Sonia, 15. He called her out of the blue, but knew many things about her. She did not want to go out with him because when she could not go he would become angry and cuss her and call her a "stuck up bitch." His brothers used to call her and tell her if she did not go out with him they would bring their guns and kill her. They would click the gun over the phone. He came to her house one time. He kept wanting to hug her. He did not ask her to have sex with him. He told her his mom knew voodoo and she would cast a spell to make her fall in love with him. He cut a lock of her hair. He never took photos, but wanted her to give him a photo. She didn't. The day he supposedly murdered the first victim, he called and asked her out. Later he wrote her from jail and would be nice then would say, "stupid little bitch." Because she would not go out with him.

-- Kassandra, 14 years old. Ortiz pulls up and starts chatting when she's out riding bikes in Diamond Hill [in north Fort Worth]. Wrote to her while he was in jail. She was never alone with him.

-- Sonya, 19. Met him at a low rider show in Fair Park [in Dallas] in March or April. Never violent. Saw him five times but never dated. Has been to his house but mother always there.

-- Alicia. Met him at a carwash on the Northside, and talked by phone until she heard he had a wife.

-- Amanda, 17. He tried to take a Polaroid of her. She refused. Tried to kiss her, she refused.

-- Brenda. Met a man who said his name was Jaime Martinez. Met him three or four months ago at Texaco station at Seminary and McCart [an intersection in south Fort Worth]. Pulled her over and wanted her phone number. Started calling her and describing her house. Wanted to come take a picture of her. She refused.

-- Crystal. He tried to get her to break up with her boyfriend. Wouldn't come to her house unless she would meet him in the alley. He would call her and want to know what she was wearing. Never went out with him.

-- Christina went to a party and he kept wanting to take photos of her bottom.

-- Guera, 15. Met him at a Jack in the Box. She denied ever having sex with him. She could not believe he would ever commit a murder. He was so friendly!

-- Melinda, 15. Identified himself as Jaime. Asked if she was a virgin. Wanted to take nude photos of her. Melinda's dad came out and ran him off.

-- Diana. Had to go to Mexico to get away from suspect. Gang graffiti written on her house. Car damaged. [Ortiz] told Diana, "You don't know the pissed off side of me."

-- Onsuree. Car broken into. Driver's license stolen. [Got] call from Jaime wanting her to come pick up her ID.

-- Alexandria. Went out with him approx. one month. Went to his house, watched TV or rented videos; did kiss, no sex, no request for sex, no threat to body, no anger. He did not take photos. They met at Prontos, a convenience store by her house. He never came to her house in the day, only late at night. When asked why she thought he treated her different than the other girls, she said probably because her dad "had a talk with him." Her mom and dad knew they dated.

-- Vanessa. Met suspect at park. ... Suspect took her to a home on Hemphill and wanted to have sex. She told him no. He became angry and called her names and told her to get out. She started crying as she did not know how to get to her cousin's house. He drove her back to her cousin's house and pushed her out of the vehicle. They met at Six Flags and went out twice. First time went to store and riding around. Second time to go to a movie but ended up at a house he said was his. He took photos of her on a bed. She refused to "stay there" with him. He became angry and cussed her. He did ask if she was a virgin.

As they listened to the girls, many of whom were still terrified of Ortiz, police heard familiar stories. Several years before, for example, Ortiz had met Armida Garcia at a convenience store. Years later, he had driven up to Krystal Minjarez while the girl and her friend were walking in an apartment complex. He had become enraged at Armida when she refused his sexual advances, and police believed he probably killed her because of it.

Investigators believed that the same thing probably happened to Krystal. They envisioned how, on the July night she got into a vehicle with Ortiz, the 13-year-old girl had spurned the gangster twice her age and paid with her life. Armida and Krystal had truly seen what Ortiz had described as "the pissed-off side" of him.

A nightmare for parents

Many times when investigators called, they didn't talk to the girls at all but to their parents. Mothers or fathers would answer the telephone and ask why a homicide detective wanted to know about their daughters. The police weren't shy about telling them: The daughter's name and telephone number had been found in the bedroom of a suspected serial killer.

"I'd hear some screaming mamas sometimes," Brannan remembered. "They had no idea he [Ortiz] was calling their homes.

"They had no idea what their daughters were doing with their cellphones and pagers.

"I think I got a lot of young ladies' cellphones and pagers taken away from them during this time period. But you know what? It didn't really bother me. I would tell the parents, 'There's people out there like that. Watch your children. Watch your daughters.'"

Unfortunately, on dozens of other occasions, detectives called a number from Ortiz's address book, or from the back of a photograph, or from a scrap of paper, and learned that it was no longer in service. They would try to track down the address associated with the number, try to find the girls that way, but they were often unsuccessful. The implications of that were sickening.

"Personally, I was absolutely convinced that he had killed other girls or other women," Brannan said recently. "We're hearing these common stories about that sorry jerk, getting a picture of this guy for who he really is. I heard tell in college that true psychopaths are truly rare, people who experience no feelings, no guilt, can experience no love or sympathy for anyone.

"Over my years in homicide, I've identified a few of them," Brannan continued. "But this guy here is at the top of the list. This is the feeling that I was getting back then."

Hours after the search of the Ortiz home, as Brannan sat at his desk at police headquarters, his concern about the other potential victims was foremost on his mind. Mixed with that was a curiosity about his quarry. Unlike many other Fort Worth officers who had dealt with the north-side gang member for years, Brannan had never met Ortiz, never questioned him, never been subjected to his infuriating bravado. That would soon change.

Late that afternoon, Brannan's telephone rang at his desk. The detective was thrilled to hear the voice of a soft-spoken Hispanic man.

He knew who it was before the caller even identified himself. There was no bravado in the voice at all.

It was as quiet as an altar boy's.

"Detective, this is Andy Ortiz. I heard you wanted to talk to me."

Next: Brannan and Ortiz, face to face.

Timeline

Sept. 4, 1991: Andy Ortiz is accused of kidnapping a 13-year-old girl. That charge is dismissed when Ortiz agrees to a nine-year sentence for earlier burglaries. He is paroled after nine months.

Aug. 8, 1993: Ortiz is accused of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl, but the case doesn't go to trial. He is returned to jail on a parole violation and is released after one year.

Early 1995: Ortiz first meets 13-year-old Armida Garcia and gets her phone number.

1995: Ortiz begins corresponding with and calling Garcia from jail, where he is doing time for theft.

December 1995: Ortiz is released from prison.

Summer 1996: Nineteen-year-old Brenda Salazar moves to North Texas to pursue a job in the airline industry.

May 26, 1997: Salazar's roommate returns from out of town and discovers Salazar's body in their apartment just after 5 p.m.

July 9, 1997: A 12-year-old girl is raped by a man matching Ortiz's description; she decides not to pursue the case.

Aug. 3, 1997: Garcia is strangled in her parents' bedroom.

Aug. 8, 1997: Ortiz is arrested in the Garcia killing; Detective Joe Thornton tries to get Ortiz to confess but it unsuccessful.

Fall 1997: The Salazar murder case grows cold.

Late 1997: Ortiz is jailed on parole violations; he begins corresponding with a 15-year-old named Anna.

January 1998: Thornton gets a tip about Ortiz fleeing Garcia's house the night of the killing, but he can't find the witness.

July 1999: Ortiz is released from jail; he moves in with Anna's family.

Jan. 29, 2000: Ortiz marries Anna.

July 18, 2000: Krystal Minjarez sneaks out of her home in Crowley and calls a man named "Jaime." He picks her up during the early morning, and she calls a friend later to say she is at his home.

July 21, 2000: Minjarez's body is found at Marine Creek Lake.

July 25, 2000: After finding Ortiz's address in Minjarez's address book -- listed under "Jaime" -- Detective Curt Brannan gets a warrant to search the Ortiz home.

July 26, 2000: In Ortiz's room, police find photos of scantily clad young women and phone numbers of hundreds of girls.

On TV: A Star-Telegram documentary about Andy Ortiz's crimes will debut at 8 p.m. March 9 on KTXA/Channel 21.