EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – The man who shot 23 people dead at an El Paso Walmart almost four years ago showed little emotion as he appeared for the start of his sentencing hearing in federal court Wednesday morning.
Patrick Wood Crusius, 24, mostly looked straight ahead and occasionally at the bench as Senior U.S. District Judge David C. Guaderrama reviewed the pre-sentencing report for the suspect. He wore a blue prison uniform, black-rim glasses and shaggy hair.
As the procedures started, some of the victims’ families could be heard sobbing in court. Others sitting in the front row were observed looking directly at Crusius for a long period of time.
“I watched the killer the whole time. He showed very little emotion whatsoever,” said former El Paso Mayor Dee Margo, who showed up for the hearing. “He looked non-plussed to me, just sitting there. […] At no point did I see him looking at the victims’ (relatives).”
Crusius in February agreed to plead guilty to 90 federal counts related to hate crimes and is expected to serve 90 consecutive life terms in prison for the Aug. 3, 2019, attack at the Walmart near Cielo Vista Mall. Twenty-three people died and 22 more were injured. His state trial, in which the El Paso District Attorney’s Office could ask for the death penalty, is pending.
Margo, who was the mayor when the killings took place, said the sentencing will have a “cathartic” effect on the community. “This is part of our history but it does not define us as a region,” he said.
Margo said he hopes being done with the sentencing will help the victims’ families and the community to finally heal.
Guaderrama made several revisions to the pre-sentencing report on Wednesday. The judge said the killer “beyond a reasonable doubt” selected his victims as the target of his attack because of actual or perceived national origin or ethnicity.
Investigators have said Crusius posted an online manifesto prior to the attack decrying the “Hispanic invasion of Texas.” That was in reference to the 2018-2019 immigration surge at the Southwest border that strained federal agencies’ resources and prompted conservative politicians like former President Donald Trump to characterize the surge as an invasion.
Investigators said Crusius drove 10 hours from North Texas to shoot Hispanics in El Paso. The bullets ended the lives of at least nine Mexican citizens, but most of the dead were Americans and one German citizen.
Guaderrama also stressed that the killer “should have known” some of his victims were vulnerable because they were senior citizens, minors or infirm. He also made upward revisions to the pre-sentencing recommendations based on some of the survivors sustaining permanent bodily damage.
The judge recessed the hearing shortly after 10 a.m. Mountain Time and allowed the U.S. Attorney’s Office staff to remain in the courtroom to confer in private with relatives of the victims over an undisclosed matter.
The hearing resumes after 1 p.m. with the victims’ impact statements. Crusius’ attorneys earlier said his client would like an opportunity to address the court at some point during the proceedings.
