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Draft:Brenda Delgado

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Brenda Delgado
Brenda Delgado FBI Most Wanted Poster
FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitive
Reward$100,000
Description
BornBrenda Berenice Delgado Reynaga
June 18th, 1982
Mexico
NationalityMexican
RaceHispanic
GenderFemale
Height5'5
Weight145 lb (66 kg)
Status
ConvictionsCapital murder
PenaltyLife in prison
AddedApril 6th, 2016
CaughtApril 8th, 2016
Number506
Captured

Brenda Berenice Delgado Reynaga (born June 18th, 1982) was an American fugitive wanted for orchestrating the murder-for-hire of dentist Dr. Kendra Hatcher in Dallas, Texas. On April 6th, 2016, she was named by the FBI as the 506th fugitive to be placed on its Ten Most Wanted list.[1] On April 8th, 2016, Delgado was captured in Torreón, Coahuila, Mexico.[2] She was later extradited form Mexico to the United States to face charges of capital murder.[3]

Background

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Brenda Delgado and Dr. Ricardo “Ricky” Paniagua had been in a relationship for over two years. However, their relationship ended in February 2015 when Paniagua decided to break things off. Despite the breakup, they remained in contact, with Delgado believing there was still a chance for reconciliation. By June of 2015, he was in a new relationship with Kendra Hatcher and had informed Delgado via email that his new relationship was going very well.[4][5] Unbeknownst to Paniagua, Delgado had been monitoring his activities since their breakup. She had access to his email and iCloud passwords, a key to his apartment, and even used an app to track his cellphone location. Delgado meticulously documented Paniagua's new relationships, taking screenshots of text messages and airline reservations.[4]

On September 2, 2015, the day before Hatcher was set to fly to Cancún with Paniagua for a long weekend, she was shot and killed in the parking garage of her apartment complex. Initially thought to be a robbery gone wrong, the investigation quickly revealed that it was an execution. Within a week, Dallas Police detectives uncovered evidence suggesting that Delgado had orchestrated a murder-for-hire scheme. Unable to accept Paniagua's new relationship with Hatcher, Delgado recruited two individuals, a single mother named Crystal Cortes and a small-time marijuana dealer named Kristopher love, to carry out the killing. Both were subsequently arrested. Delgado, in fear of her own arrest, fled to Mexico. The FBI offered $100,000 for information for leading to her arrest or conviction.[6]

Crystal Cortes, the accomplice who drove the getaway car for $500, plead guilty in October of 2018 and was sentenced to 35 years in prison in exchange for her cooperation as the star witness against Delgado and Kristopher Love, the shooter. Evidence showed that Delgado had convinced Love to join the murder-for-hire scheme where she promised him money and drugs totaling around $3,000 using her supposed cartel connections. On October 31st, 2018, he was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death for his role in the murder. [7][8]

On April 8th, 2016, Delgado was arrested in Torreón, Coahuila, Mexico by agents of the Mexican Attorney General’s Office and Criminal Investigations Agency with support from the FBI Attaché in Mexico City.[2] On October 6th, 2016, she was extradited to the United States to stand trial.[3] Due to Mexico's stance on the death penalty, as part of the agreement for extradition, prosecutors could not pursue the death penalty and instead pursued life in prison. It took the jury only 20 minutes to return a guilty verdict for Delgado.[9][10]

References

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  1. ^ Newsome, Janella (2016-04-06). "Brenda Delgado Added to FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives List". FBI.gov. Retrieved 2024-11-01.
  2. ^ a b Newsome, Janella (2016-04-08). "FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitive Brenda Delgado Now in Custody". FBI.gov. Retrieved 2024-11-01.
  3. ^ a b Newsome, Janella (2016-10-06). "FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitive Brenda Delgado Extradited from Mexico". FBI.gov. Retrieved 2024-11-01.
  4. ^ a b Hollandsworth, Skip (2019-12-18). "The Doctor, the Dentist, and the Killer". Texas Monthly. Retrieved 2024-11-01.
  5. ^ "Woman Flees To Mexico After She Arranges The Execution Of Her Ex's New Flame". Oxygen Official Site. 2021-08-01. Retrieved 2024-11-01.
  6. ^ Karimi, Faith (2016-04-07). "Texas woman added to FBI wanted list". CNN. Retrieved 2024-11-01.
  7. ^ "Kristopher Love, hitman in killing of Dallas dentist, is sentenced to death". NBC News. 2018-10-31. Retrieved 2024-11-01.
  8. ^ "Jilted woman gets life sentence for hiring triggerman to kill Uptown Dallas dentist". Dallas News. 2019-06-07. Retrieved 2024-11-01.
  9. ^ "Brenda Delgado Sentenced to Life in Prison". Law & Crime. 2019-06-07. Retrieved 2024-11-01.
  10. ^ Leach, Kimberlee (2019-06-07). "For Immediate Release: Dallas County Jury Returns a Guilty Verdict in Capital Murder Trial of Brenda Delgado" (PDF). Dallas County District Attorney's office. pp. 1–2. Retrieved 2024-11-01.