A highly publicized murder case from 15 years ago is set to go before a jury today at the Butler County Common Pleas Courthouse. Antonio Riano, also known as “The Devil,” is accused of shooting and killing Benjamin Becarra outside the Roundhouse Bar in Hamilton.
Riano has been on the run since the shooting, and was eventually found living in Mexico where he had apparently assumed an alias and worked as a police officer for several years. According to investigators, Riano’s case went cold until last year when they used social media to track him down and bring him back to the United States.
Prosecutors allege that Riano shot Becarra in 2004 and then fled to Mexico where he lived under an assumed identity. However, Riano’s attorneys have filed a motion stating that their client acted in self-defense during the shooting.
The trial is expected to begin with opening statements this morning. Riano’s case was even featured on an episode of “America’s Most Wanted” due to its notoriety and the fact that he had been on the Butler County Sheriff’s most wanted list since 2004.
Riano has a family in Hamilton, including a wife and three children, who he allegedly abandoned after the shooting. The trial is expected to be highly publicized and will likely raise questions about how Riano was able to evade capture for so long and work as a police officer in Mexico without being detected.
Source: WLWT5
