Editor’s note: This article features a storyline within Fox Nation’s new series “50 Ways to Catch A Killer.” This series is now available on Fox Nation, is hosted by 50 cent and sheds light on real cases where investigators had to flip the script to take down killers who thought they were getting away with murder.
The following Post article is from 2024, resurfaced in cooperation with Fox Nation.
A California pastor and crazed father was arrested Tuesday after he allegedly paid several men nearly $40,000 in a murder-for-hire plot against his daughter’s boyfriend.
Samuel Pasillas, 47, was charged in the October 2023 shooting of an unidentified man who was romantically linked to his daughter, according to the Riverside Police Department.
“During their investigation, detectives uncovered evidence the father met with the men he hired and provided them information about the victim, including his location the evening of the shooting,” the department said in a press release.
Pasillas allegedly paid the men to conduct surveillance on the victim in the weeks before the shooting.
The victim was shot several times inside his car while driving in the Orangecrest neighborhood of Riverside around 7 p.m. on Oct. 21, 2023.
Samuel Pasillas was charged in the October 2023 shooting of an unidentified man who was romantically linked to his daughter. City of Riverside
“The male adult victim stated he was driving on Grove Community Drive approaching Plainview Street when another vehicle pulled up alongside him,” the statement said. “Gunfire came from this other vehicle and he was struck several times.”
The man drove himself to a nearby hospital where he was treated for the gunshots, which he is reportedly still recovering from, after five months.
Pasillas is the pastor at the Spanish-speaking church, Centro Internacional de Oracion in Victorville, Calif.
Pasillas was arrested and charged with solicitation for murder, conspiracy to commit murder, attempted murder, and assault with a deadly weapon, all felony charges jail records viewed by The Post revealed.
The victim was shot several times inside his car while driving in the Orangecrest neighborhood of Riverside around 7 p.m. on Oct. 21, 2023. KTLA 5
Bullet holds on the victim’s car were found after he drove himself to the hospital following the shooting. KTLA 5The pastor has pleaded not guilty to the charges, according to the Los Angeles Times, citing court records.
A motive for the murder-for-hire plot was not revealed but authorities say Pasillas could have been driven by his religion and beliefs to hire the hitmen, according to KTLA.
A second man, 55-year-old Juan Manuel Cebreros who is believed to be one of the gunmen, was arrested and charged with conspiracy to commit murder, attempted murder, and assault with a deadly weapon.
Juan Manuel Cebreros, believed to be one of the gunmen, was charged with conspiracy to commit murder, attempted murder, and assault with a deadly weapon. City of Riverside
The male adult victim stated he was driving on Grove Community Drive approaching Plainview Street when another vehicle pulled up alongside him. KTLA 5They are both being held at the Robert Presley Detention Center in Riverside, each on $1 million bails.
It was unclear how many other suspects were linked to the attempted murder, but at least one man has yet to be charged, the LA Times said, citing court records.
Last month, a former Missouri middle school principal admitted to hiring a hitman to murder a teacher who was pregnant with his child.
Cornelius Green, the former principal of Carr Lane Visual and Performing Arts Middle School in St. Louis, Mo., pleaded guilty to one count of murder-for-hire and one count of conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire for the 2016 killing of Jocelyn Peters, according to Law & Crime.
