On the evening of April 7, 2024, a tragic and violent series of events unfolded in Schuyler, Nebraska, culminating in the death of 44-year-old Ariel Varella Herrera. The grim discovery of his body was made at a local storage unit, but the story of his death began to unravel with a startling 911 call made by the man who would soon be identified as his killer.
Rodolfo Cateura-Nogueras, a 40-year-old man from Columbus, Nebraska, contacted authorities and confessed to the murder.
During the call, he claimed that his roommate, Varella Herrera, had been supplying drugs to his 20-year-old daughter and abusing her. Cateura-Nogueras, Varella Herrera, and the daughter all shared 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."
Following this confession, law enforcement was directed to a storage unit in Schuyler that Cateura-Nogueras had been renting. There, they found blood stains and a spent. 22 caliber shell casing outside the unit. Inside, Varella Herrera's body was discovered hidden under black plastic tarps. The investigation revealed that the fatal encounter had occurred at this location.
The violence of that day did not end with Varella Herrera's death. Another man, Angel Miguel Ortiz Perez, went to the storage unit to confront Cateura-Nogueras about Varella Herrera's whereabouts. During this confrontation, Cateura-Nogueras shot Ortiz Perez twice in the face. Fortunately, the bullets only grazed him, and he was able to escape on foot.
Authorities tracked Cateura-Nogueras's cell phone to Missouri, where he was arrested by Buchanan County Sheriff's deputies the following day. He was found with the phone used to make the 911 call and a. 22 caliber handgun. Following his arrest, Cateura-Nogueras pleaded no contest to second-degree murder for the death of Ariel Varella Herrera and second-degree assault for the shooting of Angel Miguel Ortiz Perez. He was subsequently sentenced to 65 to 90 years in prison.
