Suspects in murder of Border Patrol agent arrested and deported numerous times

Two illegal immigrants from Mexico who were charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of an off-duty U.S. Border Patrol agent in front of his family in Texas have been arrested and deported numerous times, police sources told FoxNews.com.

One suspect has been arrested no fewer than four times for entering the U.S. illegally, according to federal court records. The other has been deported twice after entering the U.S. illegally, sources said.

Gustavo Tijerina, 30, and Ismael Hernandez, 40, were arraigned Tuesday ...

The pair, who have been living in Texas illegally, confessed after being interviewed multiple times Monday to killing Border Patrol agent Javier Vega Jr. in front of his wife and two kids and his parents Sunday night while they were fishing in Santa Monica, Sheriff Larry Spence told FoxNews.com ...

They finally confessed to the robbery and indicated they knew they had killed someone, but did not know it was an off-duty Border Patrol agent, Spence said in an interview in his office Tuesday morning.

"They do now," he said.

When asked how the suspects reacted when they learned the victim was a Border Patrol agent, Spence said, "shock and concern."

The sheriff said the two suspects were likely connected to cartels or other criminal gangs.

"They claim to have been involved in other incidents, this means you've got stolen vehicles going into Mexico," he said.

"Everything is going to be cartel-related, there's a connection somehow ...