Mexican cop ‘El Diablo’ arrested in 2004 deadly shooting says he was shot at first

Investigators waited nearly 20 years to interview Antonio Riano about a fatal shooting outside a Hamilton bar and when he finally sat down with police, he admitted to opening fire on 25-year-old Benjamin Becerra Ramirez during a skirmish.

Butler County Common Pleas Judge Michael Oster Jr. ruled during a hearing on Friday that the 63-year-old Riano knowingly and intelligently waived his constitutional rights when speaking with investigators at the Hamilton Police Department last August.

Riano is expected to be tried on a murder charge April 1 and prosecutors will likely present his statements to police as evidence to the jury. Prosecutors say Riano shot Becerra Ramirez in the head with a .38-caliber revolver outside a bar on East Avenue in December 2004.

Police arrest man known as ‘El Diablo’ working as cop in Mexico

Riano was indicted on a murder charge in 2005 and arrested last year by Mexican law enforcement in his hometown of Zapotitlan Palmas in Oaxaca, where he was working as a police officer.

After being extradited to the U.S., Riano told police during a roughly 90-minute interview that he went to confront a group after getting word that his younger brother had been assaulted, according to a transcript of the interview displayed in court.

The group attacked Riano while outside the bar and he retrieved a gun from his truck and fired two shots toward the group, the transcript states.

Riano’s attorney, Kara Blackney, said that Riano also told police that he’d been shot at first.

After interviewing witnesses, investigators identified Riano as the suspect and learned he was commonly referred to as “El Diablo,” a former Hamilton police detective wrote in an affidavit.

Prosecutors said surveillance video also showed Riano pull out a revolver and open fire on Becerra.

Police searched a house on East Avenue where Riano had parked his vehicle and found a box of ammunition matching the weapon used in the shooting. When police later searched Riano’s home, they learned he used several fake names and had papers to create false documentation to obtain different identifications.

Prosecutors have said Riano was in the country unlawfully at the time of the shooting.

Investigators: Riano fled to Mexico after shooting

A teacher at the elementary school Riano’s daughter attended told police they overheard the child’s mother say they…