A Nebraska man called police to report that he had shot and killed his roommate, whom he accused of abusing his adult daughter and giving her drugs.
Rodolfo Cateura Nogueras, 40, entered a no contest plea in Colfax County District Court to second-degree murder in the death of Ariel Varella Herrera, 45, and second-degree assault in the nonfatal shooting of a neighbor, according to court documents.
An affidavit details the case, which came to light on April 7 at 11:29 p.m. when a call was received by Colfax County dispatch.
The Spanish-speaking caller, later identified as Cateura Nogueras, claimed to have a 20-year-old daughter living with him and a roommate, and that the roommate was drugging and abusing his daughter, according to the affidavit.
“I’m not calling you to turn him in, I’m calling to tell you I shot him in the head, and I killed him,” said the officer.
He told the dispatcher that the shooting occurred at a storage facility in Schuyler, approximately 70 miles west of Omaha.
He stated that he wanted to speak with an officer in person at a local truck stop, but he did not meet with one that night.
Police discovered blood on the ground at the storage facility, as well as a.22 shell casing outside Unit #23.
Inside, a sergeant discovered blood and another spent.22 caliber shell casing. The victim’s body was discovered in the back of the unit, covered in black plastic tarps.
At 9:33 a.m., video surveillance footage from a neighboring business captured multiple people in Varela Herrera’s Dodge Caravan approaching the storage unit.
Following that, the individuals can be seen entering and exiting storage unit #23 before returning to the van.
One man is seen outside the van, looking around, before entering storage unit #23, which continues throughout the day until 7:52 p.m., when the van departs.
The van then returns around 10:19 p.m. The video shows multiple flashes of light in the van, which has several people inside. Twenty minutes later, a man appears to be bleeding and runs from the storage unit.
That man went to the hospital for treatment of a gunshot wound and identified Cateura Nogueras as the shooter. During the police interview, the wounded man stated that he did not know where Varella Herrera was.
“He said he was worried about Varella Herrera because Cateura Nogueras told him that Varella Herrera was ‘tied up,'” according to the statement of facts.
The surviving victim also told police that he believed Cateura Nogueras attempted to kill him by shooting him twice, one bullet knocking out a tooth later discovered on the storage unit floor and another that grazed his face and went through his arm, according to court documents.
In the early hours of April 8, police in Missouri tracked down Cateura Nogueras using his cellphone. A Buchanan, Missouri, deputy discovered a Pontiac G-6 parked in a general store parking lot while his phone was pinging. His daughter was with him.
Deputies discovered a.22 caliber Phoenix Arms handgun in the vehicle, according to court documents.
Cateura-Nogueras is scheduled to be sentenced on January 22.
