A man whose nickname is the Spanish word for “devil” shot a bar patron to death near Cincinnati, Ohio, nearly two decades ago – then fled to Mexico to become a police officer, investigators recently alleged.
Antonio “El Diablo” Riano, 72, was ultimately captured in the south-western Mexican town of Zapotitlán Palmas and was returned to the US on 1 August to face charges of murder.
A reporter for a Cincinnati CBS-affiliated station approached Riano as federal marshals handed him off to local authorities. When asked what drove him to embark on his career as a police officer, he said: “I wanted to help the people of Mexico.”
Riano’s arrest ended the search for a fugitive who had long been considered one of the most wanted not only in Ohio – but also in America.
According to police, witnesses watched Riano and 25-year-old Benjamin Becerra bicker at a watering hole in the Cincinnati suburb of Hamilton six days before Christmas 2004. The argument spilled outside the bar, and in plain view of a security camera that was recording video, Riano reportedly shot Becerra in the face, mortally wounding him.
Police who were called to investigate Becerra’s slaying later determined that Riano had bought bullets at a local retailer only hours earlier. And they found the gun used in the killing beneath the floorboards at Riano’s home, as the CBS affiliate WKRC reported.
Yet catching Riano proved to be difficult for investigators, despite the video and weapon allegedly tying him to the deadly shooting – as well as the fact that police at one point solicited the public’s help in finding him on a 2005 episode of the popular TV show America’s Most Wanted.
Before going to his home town in Mexico, Riano reportedly stopped by New Jersey, where his sister lived. Having left behind his wife and three children, he joined the Zapotitlán Palmas police department and even posted about his life on social media.
Hamilton officials continued classifying him as one of their most sought, at-large criminal suspects. The beginning of the end of his run from the law came in January, when an investigator for the state prosecutor’s office in Hamilton decided to “actively” look for Riano.
The investigator, a former sheriff’s deputy named Paul Newton, had previously participated in the early phases of the Becerra murder case. He told WKRC that he quickly found Riano’s Facebook page and learned where he was living as well as the profession he had chosen.
“I’m like, ‘My God, there he is!’” Newton said. “A little bit grayer, a little bit older, but it was him.”
Mexican authorities turned Riano over to US marshals after arresting him. The marshals flew with Riano from Mexico City to Cincinnati and then brought him to the jail in Hamilton to be booked with murder, which in Ohio can carry life imprisonment.
After he was handed over to Ohio police, a WKRC reporter asked Riano in Spanish if he had killed Becerra. Riano scoffed and in Spanish answered: “No, I did not.”
Officials told WKRC that they had informed Becerra’s family of Riano’s arrest and extradition.
Michael Black of the US marshals in Ohio said he was relieved that authorities were in a position to do that.
“In every violent crime, there’s a victim – and we want to bring closure to this case and give that family some peace, knowing that we didn’t stop and that we kept looking for this violent fugitive and were able to catch him and bring him back,” Black reportedly said.
