Authorities in California have identified the suspected killer of a UPS driver as his childhood friend and coworker.
Rhean Jalipa Fontanoza, 46, allegedly fired 14 times at 50-year-old Expedito De Leon “in a matter of seconds as he sat seat belted in his delivery truck” on May 16.
“He still had his UPS scanner in his hand and his seatbelt buckled when Fontanoza drove up next to De Leon’s delivery truck and shot [at] him 14 times in 19 seconds,” the Orange County District Attorney’s Office said.
De Leon was struck ten times, authorities said revealing how his alleged killer spent the morning tracking him down, going to the UPS substation in Aliso Viejo to get information about De Leon’s routes.
“Just before 3 p.m., Fontanoza is accused of tracking De Leon down on his route and driving past him a new vehicle which De Leon wouldn’t recognize.”
Fontanoza fled after the murder but was later located barricaded inside his vehicle and forced out of it using tear gas and a police K-9.
DA Todd Spitzer said that De Leon had just made a delivery and buckled his seatbelt when he was killed.
“[He] was just going about his day, doing his job with no idea his longtime friend was stalking him with every intent to kill him,” he said.
“The depravity involved to plot and carry out a plan to execute someone you shared a lifetime of memories with is not something anyone of us can wrap our heads around.”
