Facing capital murder charges, suspect says 'I did it because I was hurt'

EDINBURG — Juan Luis Huerta said he “just snapped.”

The 37-year-old security guard came home early Saturday morning and found his wife and the man with whom she was having an affair, sheriff’s deputies said.

Huerta pulled out his pistol, shot and killed his wife, Alma, and her companion, Juan Jose Gamez. Huerta then called 9-1-1 and waited for deputies to arrive.

“I am sorry for what happened,” the former security guard said Monday at the Hidalgo County Jail. “I did it because I was hurt.”

But with Huerta’s admission to the murders clear, questions remain about how he became employed as a security guard — or obtained a firearm.

Huerta told investigators he was employed by Mission-based Magnum Force Security as an armed guard, despite the fact that he is a felon. He was convicted of attempted murder in February 1993 and criminally negligent homicide in August 1998.

The case has been referred to the Texas Department of Public Safety — the agency oversees private security companies — to decide whether to lodge any charges against Magnum Force Security.

DPS spokeswoman Tela Mange said Huerta had applied to be a security guard “several years ago,” but his application was rejected. State investigators are examining Huerta’s employer, Mission-based Magnum Force Security, and how they managed to hire him despite his ineligibility to work as a security officer.

“Based on his criminal history, he would not have been eligible to be licensed as a security guard,” Mange said.

Magnum Force Security owner Adrian Garcia said Saturday that Huerta would be fired from his position and that the felon used an alias to clear a background check with DPS. Garcia could not be reached for comment Monday afternoon.

Mange said state investigators have not determined how Huerta managed to get hired as a security guard or get a gun. Fingerprints are routinely taken and examined during the DPS background check, making it difficult to provide a fake application, she said.

“He did not have a license to be a security guard in Texas,” Mange said.

Online records show Huerta also worked for Mission-based Rapid Security, a private security company owned by Alton Police Chief Baldemar Flores and his wife, Yolanda. Yolanda Flores said Saturday that Huerta was terminated after the company received results from his criminal background check.

Huerta also was hired by Mission-based Muñiz Security in December 2001. That company shut down about six years ago and a relative of the former company’s owner said all documents associated with employees have been destroyed.

Huerta could face the death penalty after he admitted to deputies about the two murders. Justice of the Peace Luis Garza charged Huerta with capital murder and set his bond at $800,000 for the first degree felony charge. He remained at the Hidalgo County Jail late Monday afternoon.

The double murder marks the 21st and 22nd murder investigated by Hidalgo County sheriff’s deputies in 2009. There have been at least 39 murders in Hidalgo County this year.

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Jared Taylor covers law enforcement and general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4439.

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