Manhunt continues for strip club killer on the lam from his own murder trial
The search continued on Saturday for a Dallas man who removed his ankle monitor and disappeared after the third day of his own murder trial for fatally shooting another man in a Dallas strip club parking lot, authorities said.
Rene Adrian Carrillo attended the first three days of his murder trial last week, before cutting off his electronic ankle monitor and skipping out on court Thursday, a spokesperson for the Dallas County District Attorney's Office said in a press release on Friday.
The trial continued in his absence and he was convicted this week and sentenced in absentia.
"A guilty verdict and a 99-year prison sentence was handed down to a 25-year-old man who was a no show on day four of his murder trial," according to the press release. "The United States Marshals Service immediately issued a warrant and released a wanted poster for Carillo. They have been on the hunt for him ever since."
On Oct. 11, 2017, Dallas authorities charged Carrillo with the murder of Jean Carlo Casiano-Torres, after the victim argued with Carrillo's friend inside XTC Cabaret Dallas. The argument spilled over into the parking lot of the club, prosecutors said.
While on trial, Carrillo was out on bond and fitted with the electric monitor, authorities said.
"We got him on a ankle monitor, life was good, until it was time to go to court, " U.S. Marshall B.K Nelson, who is looking for Carrillo, told ABC News on Saturday.
Life was good, until it was time to go to court.
"Court started Monday," Nelson said. "He showed up every day. I testified, homicide detectives testified. On Wednesday, he went home, thought about it, called some people, asked what he was going to get -- didn't like what he heard."
Nelson said the company that monitored the ankle bracelet got a notification at 11:02 p.m. on Wednesday that someone was tampering with it. By 1 a.m. the monitor was deactivated completely.
On Thursday morning, Nelson said -- when Carrillo did not show up at court -- the trial judge called him and said, "Hey BK, he's running, I need you to find him."
When asked why authorities did not respond immediately when the alert when off indicating the device was being tampered with, Nelson said he did not know but said that there are many reasons an alert may go off improperly, or why a device would appear to be deactivated.
Carrillo's lawyer did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment. His voicemail box was full on Saturday and unable to accept new messages.
If and when Carrillo is apprehended, he faces additional charges for fleeing and bail jumping, beyond his 99-year sentence for the murder, prosecutors said.
“Although Carrillo decided to go on the run, it was important that he was held accountable,” Dallas Assistant District Attorney Summer Elmazi said.
"The jury did that today with their verdict."
