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By Lookout News
May 16 – Charges were filed Tuesday against
a man who solicited an undercover Santa Monica Police officer
to murder a long-time friend who had entrusted him with more
than $100,000.
Officers from the department’s narcotics and vice unit
arrested Luis M. Cortez, a 51-year-old Los Angeles resident,
at his workplace in Santa Monica Friday afternoon.
The arrest came two weeks after Cortez asked another friend
to look for someone he could hire to kill the victim, whom
he had known for nearly 20 years.
Once the victim was killed, Cortez thought he could then
keep the money, said Lt. Alex Padilla, the Police Department
spokesman.
The friend, however, contacted the Santa Monica Police Department,
which conducted the investigation that led to Cortez’s
arrest.
Investigators also served search warrants at the suspect’s
workplace and his residence in Los Angeles, where they recovered
additional evidence, Padilla said.
The case was presented to the Los Angeles County District
Attorney Tuesday, and Cortez was charged with soliciting another
person to commit a murder and conspiracy to commit a crime.
Due to the nature of the crime, a bail enhancement was obtained
and Cortez is being held without bail, police said.
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