A California pastor and insane father was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of paying several men nearly $40,000 in a murder-for-hire plot against his daughter’s boyfriend.
Samuel Pasillas, 47, is accused of fatally shooting an unidentified man who was romantically involved with his daughter in October 2023, according to Riverside police.
“During the investigation, detectives met with men hired by the father and found evidence that they provided information about the victim, including his whereabouts on the night of the shooting,” the department said in a statement. said in a press release.
Pasillas allegedly paid the men to monitor the victims in the weeks before the shooting.
The victim was shot multiple times while driving in the Orange Crest neighborhood of Riverside on October 21, 2023 at approximately 7 p.m.
“The adult male victim stated that he was driving on Grove Community Drive approaching Plainview Street when another vehicle pulled up alongside him,” the statement said. “There were gunshots from this other vehicle and he was shot several times.”
The man drove himself to a nearby hospital where he was treated for the gunshot wound and is reportedly still recovering five months later.
Pasillas is the pastor of Centro International de Oración, a Spanish-speaking church in Victorville, California.
Pasillas was arrested and charged with abetting murder, conspiracy to commit murder, attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon, all felonies in jail records reviewed by the Post.
According to the newspaper, the pastor has pleaded not guilty to the charges. Los Angeles Times, Citing court records.
The motive for the murder-for-hire plot has not been revealed, but authorities say Paciyas may have been motivated by religion and beliefs to hire the hitman. According to KTLA.
The second man, believed to be one of the shooters, 55-year-old Juan Manuel Cebreros, was arrested and charged with conspiracy to commit murder, attempted murder, and assault with a deadly weapon.
The two are being held at the Robert Presley Detention Center in Riverside, with bail set at $1 million each.
It’s unclear how many other suspects are involved in the attempted murder, but at least one has not yet been charged, the LA Times reported, citing court records.
Last month, a former Missouri middle school principal admitted to hiring a hitman to kill a teacher who became pregnant with his child.
Cornelius Green, former principal of Carr Lane Visual and Performing Arts Middle School in St. Louis, Missouri, has pleaded guilty to one count of murder and one count of conspiracy to commit murder for the 2016 murder. . According to Jocelyn Peters, law and crime.
The St. Louis Circuit Attorney’s Office agreed to dismiss the state murder charge if he is sentenced to life in prison on the federal charges.
