Detective: Leonel Hernandez told me where he hid a weapon

A jury Friday heard explosive testimony in the murder trial of Leonel Hernandez, the man accused of murdering KLAQ DJ Richard Madrigal on June 11, 2016.

El Paso Police Det. David Camacho testified that two days after Madrigal was shot to death in his apartment, Hernandez was being detained as a suspect in the murder. During that time, Camacho said Hernandez told him where he had hidden a weapon.

“Did the defendant tell you anything about the weapon?” prosecuting attorney Stacy Scofield asked.

“Yes,” Camacho said. “He (Hernandez) told me where he had placed a weapon at.”

Det. Camacho said Hernandez told him a weapon was in a truck at 5525 Westside Drive, which is right on the border of El Paso and Santa Teresa, New Mexico.

The truck belonged to Hernandez’s father. Camacho testified that they found the gun exactly where he was told he would.

“We found the weapon on the floorboards under the driver’s seat of the truck,” Camacho told the jury.

The defense had objected when the prosecution tried asking Camacho if Hernandez told him about “the murder weapon,” and the judge instructed the jury to disregard the question. That led to the more broad question of “a weapon.”

On Thursday, Hernandez pleaded not guilty to the shooting death of Madrigal at his home in the Terrace Hills apartment complex in West El Paso.