Pastor Hires Hitmen to Take Out Daughter’s Boyfriend

Members of the clergy are typically well respected and are held to a high standard in today’s society. Imagine hearing the local pastor was on the wrong side of the law, and can even face charges for conspiracy to commit murder.

This exact scenario happened when police in California arrested and charged a pastor in Victorville last week. The police were alleging he contacted hitmen in a plot to kill his daughter’s boyfriend.

Pastor hires hitmen?!https://t.co/S3sOYsMsko

— Bearly Cares (@BalzakInc) March 20, 2024

Fox News adds more on the arrest:

Riverside authorities say Samuel Pasillas, 47, offered nearly $40,000 to Juan Manuel Cebreros, 55, and other men to kill his daughter’s boyfriend in October 2023.

“During their investigation, detectives uncovered evidence the father met with the men he hired and provided them information about the victim, including his location, the evening of the shooting,” Riverside police said in a press release on Tuesday. “Detectives also determined these men were paid almost $40,000 by the father and had conducted surveillance on the victim in the weeks leading up to when they shot him.”

The New York Post includes more on the attack in October:

Pasillas allegedly paid the men to conduct surveillance on the victim in the weeks before the shooting.

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The victim was shot several times inside his car while driving in the Orangecrest neighborhood of Riverside around 7 p.m. on Oct. 21, 2023.

“The male adult victim stated he was driving on Grove Community Drive approaching Plainview Street when another vehicle pulled up alongside him,” the statement said. “Gunfire came from this other vehicle and he was struck several times.”

The man drove himself to a nearby hospital where he was treated for the gunshots, which he is reportedly still recovering from, after five months.

Pasillas is a pastor at Centro Internacional de Oracion, which is a Spanish speaking church.

Pasillas was arrested on charges of solicitation for murder, conspiracy to commit murder, attempted murder, and assault with a deadly weapon, which are all felony charges.

KTLA 5 adds more on the arrests and possible motivation:

On March 13, Pasillias was arrested after police executed search warrants at homes in Victorville, Long Beach and Lynwood.

Another man, 55-year-old Long Beach resident Juan Manuel Cebreros, presumably one of the gunmen, was also arrested in connection with the murder-for-hire scheme.

When asked what the possible motive was for wanting his daughter’s boyfriend killed, authorities believe it may have been his religion and beliefs that compelled him to hire the hitmen.

Many people have taken to X in response to the ethics of the pastor:

I guess he hadn't got to part of the Bible that reads "Thou Shall Not Murder"

— Michael (@MovieFanMan75) March 20, 2024

Here’s where the left pivots to religion instead of the obvious demographic factors

— DeShawn, Jaymes DeShawn. (@DeshawnJaymes) March 20, 2024

Pasillas is currently being held at Robert Presley Detention Center, with a bail set at $1 million.