Aroldo Humberto Cadriel told investigators that he felt used only for rides and to buy things.
The 65-year-old Brownsville man told investigators that he and 20-year-old murder victim Brisna Mireles had been involved in a sexual relationship.
Authorities found the Harlingen woman's body along Expressway 77 in Combes back on March 31st.
Action 4 News obtained court records in the case and learned how the investigation had several twists and turns but led authorities to Cadriel.
False Lead
Investigators started their investigation with what ended up being a false lead.
Harlingen police told investigators that Mireles had been in a shaky relationship with her boyfriend Timothy Ruiz.
Police had previously arrested Ruiz in a domestic violence incident where Mireles was the victim.
But Ruiz was in jail at the time of Mireles' murder for causing a disturbance at her home.
Hotel Room Key
Court records show that investigators found a number of unusual clues at the crime scene.
Police found a hotel room key and a bag of pills next to Mireles' body but also noticed she had a telephone number written on her right leg.
The hotel room key belonged to Room 52 at the Hudson House Hotel off Ed Carey Drive in Harlingen.
Owners told investigators that the room had been rented by a regular customer who they knew as "Robert Castillo."
They said "Castillo" had rented a the hotel room on March 23rd and then again on March 28th.
The owners described "Castillo" as an older man in his 50s or 60s with grey hair and a beard. They said he drove a white, four-door pickup truck.
Hotel Room Clues
Authorities searched the hotel room and found Corona beer bottles in the refrigerator and receipts from a two area convenience stores.
Telephone records for the room showed someone had called a number similar to the one written on Mireles' leg.
According to the court records, the owners saw a young woman sitting on the curb on the night of the murder.
They saw the woman and a young man head towards Room 52 but then saw them running and getting into a yellow car.
Investigators learned that the telephone number belong to a man named Jacob Vento.
Yellow Car
According to court records, Vento came to the Harlingen Police Department where he told authorities what he knew and saw.
Vento told police that Mireles called to pick her up at the hotel around 10 p.m. on the night of March 30th.
But Vento said an older man with a grey beer pulled out a "Dirty Harry" type gun on them outside Room 52.
They ran into his yellow car and ended up driving to a friend of Mireles' apartment at the Palm Terrace Apartments off Sam Houston Drive in Harlingen.
Vento said that Mireles received the phone call around 2 a.m. and left without telling anyone where she was going or who she was going to see.
Apartment Complex
Police identified the renters of the apartment that Vento and Mireles went to as David Lee Garza and Lorrisa Arevalo.
They confirmed that Mireles left at 2 a.m. but told investigators that she returned about thirty minutes later.
But they added that Mireles got another call at 3 a.m. and left without saying where she was going or who she was going to see.
Surveillance camera footage from the apartment complex shows a white, four-door Ford truck there at both times she left.
The security camera footage showed that a woman was driving the truck around 3 a.m.
Records from Mireles' phone show that she spoke with a man police later identified as Francisco Muņoz.
Drug Deal
Court records show that Muņoz spoke to police and Texas Rangers last week.
Muņoz told investigators that he called Mireles to buy illegal drugs and met with her around 2:30 a.m. on the morning she was killed.
Court records show that Mireles was driving a white, four-door Ford truck while a man matching Cadriel's description was in the passenger side.
Investigators obtained phone records which show that Cadriel was in the area at that same time.
Cadriel
The court records show that Investigators had interviewed Cadriel earlier in the investigation because he had been with Mireles and her brother on the night of March 30th.
It's not clear how Cadriel met or knew Mireles but he told police that he took Mireles and her brother Jovanni Quiroz to Whataburger that evening.
Quiroz told police that Mireles knew Cadriel as "Uncle Randy."
Cadriel told investigators during his first interview that he dropped off Quiroz but that Mireles wanted to go for a drive because it calmed her down.
The Brownsville man claims he dropped Mireles off around 9 p.m. and then went home where he went to bed.
Search Warrant
Court records show that authorities searched Cadriel's home off Crownridge Drive in Brownsville on April 3rd.
Investigators found numerous weapons and ammunition at Cadriel's home.
Among the guns, was a .44-caliber weapon, which matched the "Dirty Harry" description given by Vento.
Authorities also found what appeared to be blood inside his white, four-door Ford pickup truck.
Confession
While authorities were searching his home, Cadriel allegedly made several statements to investigators.
During of one of his statements, he said if he gets sentenced for 30 to 35 years that he'll never come out and die in jail.
Investigators were getting ready to leave when Cadriel allegedly told them and he and Mireles had a sexual relationship.
Cadriel told investigators that he rented the hotel room and that he had been frustrated by Mireles.
The Brownsville man allegedly told investigators that he had felt used by her and that she only called him for rides and to buy things for her.
Sexual Abuse Charges
Harlingen police told Action 4 News that Cadriel is the suspect in an aggravated sexual assault of a child case filed there in December.
Child Protective Services told police that a 5-year-old boy had been sexually abused by a man the child's family identified as "Roberto Quintania."
Harlingen police later identified "Roberto Quintania" as Cadriel.
Facebook Page
Cadriel's Facebook page revealed a number of personal details about him.
The Facebook page showed that Cadriel is a decorated Vietnam veteran who owns Cadriel's Firing Range off South Nogal Street in Los Fresnos.
According to the page, Cadriel is retired from the U.S. Army and as a jailer for the Texas Youth Commission.
Posts on his wall show a number of religious-themed posts.
Court Appearance
Cadriel appeared before a Harlingen municipal judge for an unrelated aggravated sexual assault of a child charge on Thursday morning.
The Brownsville man was given a $250,000 dollar bond for that case.
Authorities later took Cadriel to appear for the murder charge before Cameron County Justice of the Peace Manuel Flores, Jr. in Rio Hondo.
Judge Flores denied bond for Cadriel during the Thursday afternoon arraignment.
But Cameron County Magistrate Judge Luis Saenz later gave Cadriel a $900,000 dollar bond at the Carrizalez-Rucker Detention Center.
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