Suspect in Two-State Killing Spree Arrested in Missouri

A man suspected of killing five people across Kansas and Missouri was arrested early Wednesday morning after an extensive manhunt, the Missouri Highway Patrol said.

Highway Patrol officials told the Kansas City Star that Pablo Antonio Serrano-Vitorino was arrested in Montgomery County, Missouri. He was found lying on a hill just north of Interstate-70 and no shots were fired, according to The Star.

Pablo Antonio Serrano-Vitorino

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The suspect had a rifle with him, but federal law barred him from legally owning a gun because he is in the country illegally, according to John Ham, a spokesman for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives office in Kansas City.

Online court records show he was charged Wednesday in Montgomery County, Missouri, in the death of 49-year-old Randy Nordman. {snip}

Randy Nordman

Serrano-Vitorino is also charged with four counts of first-degree murder in Kansas. Authorities there say he gunned down a neighbor and three other men late Monday before fleeing. Investigators haven’t discussed a possible motive for the attacks.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said in a statement late Tuesday that Serrano-Vitorino was a Mexican national who was held at the Overland Park, Kan. Municipal Court on Sept. 14. The fingerprinting generated an ICE detainer, but the agency was “erroneously issued . . . to the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office, instead of the Overland Park Municipal Court.”

The Department of Homeland Security said that Serrano-Vitorino was released from custody without ICE being notified, though they did not elaborate on why. ICE also confirmed that Serrano-Vitorino had been deported back to Mexico in 2004, but had since returned illegally.

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