Man found guilty of attempted capital murder

A former U.S. Border Patrol agent on Tuesday was found guilty of attempted capital murder in the shooting of his estranged wife's boyfriend earlier this year.

Alberto Montelongo, 41, was found guilty of one count of attempted capital murder and one count of continuous family violence.

Montelongo was immediately taken into custody to await sentencing.

He faces five to 99 years in prison on the attempted capital murder charge, and two to 10 years on the family violence charge. The sentencing phase of the trial is expected to begin at 7:45 a.m. Wednesday.

A jury of five men and seven women reached the verdict in just more than an hour. The trial was held in the 243rd District Court with Judge Luis Aguilar presiding.

After the verdict, the victims' families and Montelongo's family began shouting at each other outside the courtroom and were separated by security with one family being ushered into the courthouse elevator.

Montelongo was arrested in February after he confronted his estranged wife, Angelica Parra, and her boyfriend, Jesus "Jesse" Rodriguez, at her home in the 13900 block of Bradley Road in the Montana Vista area.

According to court records, Montelongo had been arrested a week earlier in connection with an alleged domestic violence incident involving Parra.

Montelongo testified that the day of shooting, he went to Parra's home to give her money for a mortgage payment and to talk to her about dropping the domestic violence charges against him. He said that as he walked to the home, he saw a man inside.

Montelongo entered the home through the garage and grabbed a gun, he testified. He testified that he did not check if the gun was loaded.

As he entered the home, he saw Parra and Rodriguez "hugging and kissing" and confronted them, Montelongo testified.

Montelongo started asking why Rodriguez was there, and in his testimony admitted that he told the couple, "This ends today."

Montelongo said he had the gun pointed at Parra and Rodriguez, who was standing behind Parra. He testified that Rodriguez took steps toward him and that the gun accidentally fired as Rodriguez reached for the weapon.

Rodriguez was struck in the front of the head by the bullet. A photo shown to the jury showed Rodriguez's head was severely damaged.

Montelongo and Parra then allegedly fought for the gun and went into the kitchen area. Montelongo allegedly grabbed a knife, and during the struggle, Parra suffered several cuts to her hands.

Montelongo allegedly took Rodriguez and Parra as hostages as El Paso County Sheriff's Office deputies responded to the incident. A SWAT standoff lasted for several hours.

Montelongo testified that he tried to kill himself during the standoff, but that the gun jammed. Prosecutors alleged that the jammed gun was also the only thing that kept Montelongo from shooting Parra.

In closing statements, state prosecutor John Briggs told the jury that evidence presented in the trial showed that Montelongo went into the home with the intention of killing both Parra and Rodriguez.

"(Montelongo) goes in there to confront them with a gun to be in a position of control," Briggs said. "The only way the gun goes off is if someone's fingers are on the trigger and we know where it was pointed because 'Jesse' got shot in the face."

Defense lawyer Miguel Cervantes said in closing arguments that Montelongo never went into the house with the intention of killing Parra or Rodriguez.

"If he was there to shoot these people like the government says, you go 'bang, bang' and they are gone," Cervantes said. "But he went in there with the gun and talked to them."

Montelongo had been with the U.S. Border Patrol for 11 years and was a supervisory agent assigned to the Ysleta station.

Aaron Martinez may be reached at 546-6249; aamartinez@elpasotimes.com; @AMartinez31 on Twitter.