Officer Tells Court Man Confessed To Shooting

Villacorta said Landero-Pons returned home from work about 7 p.m., took a shower, then left on his bicycle.

Before leaving, he went to a closet in the living room and retrieved a gun, Landero-Pons told authorities in the tape-recorded interview at Loudoun County Adult Detention Center, Conner said.

Landero-Pons told investigators that he had bought the gun four months earlier from a man in Leesburg for $400, said Conner, who speaks Spanish and served as an interpreter during the interview.

Landero-Pons said he rode his bike to the area of Woodberry Road and North Street, less than two miles from the apartment, Conner testified. Landero-Pons said he left the bike near a tree and walked back to the apartment.

About 8 p.m., Santos-Machado left Wal-Mart in his blue Honda Civic to take a dinner break at Villacorta's apartment.

"I had the dinner ready for him," Villacorta testified.

Landero-Pons told investigators that when he returned to the apartment, he asked Santos-Machado for a ride to a place in Leesburg where he was looking to "rent a room," Conner said.

Landero-Pons said he "pulled the gun out to scare Jose" at one point during the ride, the deputy said.

The two men drove to the area where Landero-Pons had kept his bike, Conner said.

Shortly after 9 p.m., neighbors on Woodberry Road called police to report a loud noise. When police arrived, they found Santos-Machado slumped over dead in the driver's seat of his car, with the engine still running. A weapon was found nearby.

Villacorta testified that she watched a movie with Landero-Pons after he returned to the apartment about 9:15 p.m. He did not tell her about the shooting, she said. But in the interview room at the jail, Landero-Pons said he had told Villacorta about the shooting when he returned home that evening, Conner said.

Landero-Pons was arrested the morning of Jan. 18.