San Benito man found guilty in murder-for-hire trial

 A San Benito man, who accepted $15,000 to kill the ex-wife of a longtime friend, has been found guilty of conspiracy to commit murder.

A Cameron County jury deliberated for an hour this afternoon before convicting Victor William Bach, 41, in the murder-for-hire plot that was concocted while he was behind bars at a Cameron County jail.

Bach faced an additional charge of attempted murder in which he was found not guilty.

Bach was sentenced to 30 years in the Texas Department of Corrections, by 107th State District Judge Benjamin Euresti Jr., who tried the case.

Earlier in the day, sheriff's investigators testified a taped telephone jail conversation between Victor William Bach, 41, and Mauro Alberto Sauceda, 40, on Aug. 24, 2007 revealed that Sauceda would pay Bach's back child support in exchange for Bach killing or finding someone to kill his ex-wife Ruth Sauceda.

According to state prosecutors, Mauro Sauceda wanted his ex-wife dead because he lost "a lot of his property" and that she was going to be with someone else.

The details of the murder plot were made public this morning during the murder-for-hire trial of Bach, which is being tried before 107th State District Judge Benjamin Euresti Jr.

Although Bach admitted on the stand that he took $15,000 from Sauceda, he also testified that he had no intentions of killing Ruth Sauceda, who he has known for several years. Ruth Sauceda was not killed.

Testifying in his own defense, Bach said he told Mauro Sauceda he would kill the ex-wife just so he could get out of jail. Bach had been jailed for more than a month for back child support.

However, Mauro Sauceda painted a different picture of Bach, testifying that Bach and he entered into an agreement that Bach told him "he was going to do it." Bach had agreed to kill Ruth Sauceda once he got out of jail, Mauro Sauceda said on the stand.

Although Sauceda testified there were several reasons he wanted his ex-wife killed, he said "I just made a mistake and I'm paying for it now."

Sauceda, who had also been charged with conspiracy to commit murder, pleaded guilty in September to the charge and is serving a six year prison sentence in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice system.

For more information this story, read Thursday's Brownsville Herald.

(Copyright 2009 - The Brownsville Herald)