SCHUYLER, NE – A Nebraska man confessed to shooting his roommate, accusing him of abusing his daughter and providing her with drugs, according to recent court proceedings.

Rodolfo Cateura Nogueras, age 40, entered a no-contest plea this week in Colfax County District Court. He faces a charge of second-degree murder for the death of Ariel Varella Herrera, 45, along with a second-degree assault charge related to a separate incident involving a neighbor.

The case came to public attention following a dramatic call to Colfax County dispatch on April 7. According to court documents, Cateura Nogueras, speaking in Spanish, claimed that his roommate had been abusing his 20-year-old daughter and supplying her with narcotics. Instead of reporting his roommate’s offenses, Cateura Nogueras admitted on the call to shooting the man.

The dispatcher was informed that the incident occurred at a Schuyler storage facility, approximately 70 miles from Omaha. Cateura Nogueras initially expressed a desire to meet with police at a nearby truck stop, although that meeting never transpired that night.

Upon arriving at the storage facility, authorities discovered evidence of a violent crime. Blood and a spent .22 shell casing were found outside unit #23, with further investigation inside revealing Varella Herrera’s body concealed beneath black plastic tarps.

Surveillance footage from a neighboring business provided a clearer picture of the events that unfolded. The video depicted multiple individuals arriving and departing from the storage unit throughout the day in Varella Herrera’s Dodge Caravan. These activities continued until the evening when the vehicle departed before returning later that night.

Notably, video captured moments of light inside the van, followed by a man exiting the scene, visibly injured. This man later sought medical treatment for gunshot wounds, asserting that Cateura Nogueras had shot him. Despite his injuries, he was unable to account for Varella Herrera’s whereabouts during initial police questioning.

The wounded individual conveyed to law enforcement that he believed Cateura Nogueras intended to kill him as well, detailing how one of the bullets had dislodged a tooth found later in the unit and another had grazed his face and entered his arm.

Authorities successfully traced Cateura Nogueras’ cellphone to Missouri in the early hours of April 8. His location was pinpointed to a parking lot of a general store, where deputies found him with his daughter and a .22 caliber Phoenix Arms handgun inside a parked Pontiac.

Cateura Nogueras is scheduled for sentencing on January 22, a date that will potentially conclude this complex and violent episode. His plea and the charges he faces underscore the severe consequences of taking the law into one’s own hands amidst allegations of abuse and drug use.