A Columbus, Nebraska, man has been sentenced to 65 to 90 years in prison for a fatal shooting in Schuyler that left one man dead and another wounded. Rodolfo Cateura-Nogueras, 40, was sentenced last week in Colfax County District Court after pleading no contest to second-degree murder in the death of 45-year-old Ariel Varella Herrera on April 7, 2024. He was also convicted of second-degree assault for shooting 40-year-old Angel Miguel Ortiz Perez later that day.
Judge Christina Marroquin handed down a 50 to 70-year sentence for murder and 15 to 20 years for the assault charge, with both sentences to be served concurrently. Cateura-Nogueras was also credited with 310 days of time served.
According to an arrest affidavit filed by a Schuyler Police Department sergeant, authorities were alerted when a man, later identified as Cateura-Nogueras, called 911 around 11:30 p.m. on April 7. During the call, he confessed to the shooting, claiming that Varella Herrera had been supplying drugs and abusing his 20-year-old daughter. All three individuals lived together in an apartment in Columbus.
“I’m not calling you to turn him in,” Cateura-Nogueras told the dispatcher. “I’m calling you to tell you I shot him in the head and killed him.”
The caller also referenced a storage unit in Schuyler, leading officers to search the location. Blood stains and a spent .22 caliber shell casing were found outside a unit where Varella Herrera’s body was later discovered.
Ortiz Perez, the second victim, told police he had gone to the storage unit to confront Cateura-Nogueras about Varella Herrera’s whereabouts. During the confrontation, Cateura-Nogueras shot him twice in the face, though both bullets only grazed him, with one lodging in his arm. Ortiz Perez managed to escape on foot.
The Nebraska State Patrol tracked the 911 call to a phone in Missouri, leading authorities to arrest Cateura-Nogueras. He was found in possession of the same phone used to call 911 and a .22 caliber handgun.
Investigators confirmed Cateura-Nogueras had been renting the storage unit where the body was found. The rental agreement was linked to the same phone number used in the 911 confession.
Comments