A Southern California pastor has been arrested for allegedly hiring hitmen to murder his daughter’s boyfriend. Samuel Pasillas, 47, who police say is the pastor of a Spanish-speaking church in Victorville, is accused of paying $40,000 to have the victim killed.
The attempt on the victim’s life was not successful.
Juan Manuel Cebreros of Long Beach has also been arrested. Cebreros, 55, is believed to be one of the triggermen.
The attempted murder occurred on Oct. 21, 2023, in the Orangecrest neighborhood of Riverside. The victim was in his car when two gunmen pulled up alongside him and began firing into the vehicle.
Although he was struck several times, the victim survived the attack after driving himself to the hospital.
Police said their investigation uncovered that the attack was a murder-for-hire shooting.
“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,” police said in a statement. “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.”
Pasillas’ apparent motive was his disapproval of his daughter dating the victim, but police have yet to uncover why Pasillas was driven to the point of attempting to have the victim murdered.
Riverside Police Officer Ryan Railsback told KABC, “There is nothing to suggest that this victim did anything or had anything in their background that would elicit his girlfriend’s father to even think of doing something like this.”
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“For all we know, and everything we’ve uncovered about the victim, he is just generally a nice guy that you would probably want dating your daughter,” Railsback added.
