Police arrest 68-year-old convicted murderer suspected in another killing

Spokane police arrested a 68-year-old man suspected of shooting and killing a man in northwest Spokane on Sunday night.

The suspect, Duarte Cordero, has a first-degree murder conviction from 1990 in his criminal past.

Officers detained Cordero shortly after arriving at the shooting scene in the 1300 block of West Shannon Avenue at about 11 p.m., according to a news release.

First responders tried to treat the victim and transported him to a local hospital where he died of his injuries.

An initial investigation revealed the shooting was not random, police said. An investigation is ongoing. The victim’s name will be released by the Spokane County Medical Examiner’s Office.

Cordero was convicted in Pierce County in 1990 in the killing of Primitivo Rodrigues, a reputed gang leader, and attempting to kill Floyd Smith Jr. on Sept. 5, 1989, according to the Tacoma News Tribune.

Cordero shot Rodrigues twice in a Tacoma apartment at point -blank range, the News Tribune reported. About 15 minutes later, he shot Smith six times behind a building. At Cordero’s trial, Smith identified Cordero as the man who shot him. Cordero denied at his sentencing that he was the shooter, but the judge responded that the evidence was strong that he killed Rodrigues to establish his “prominence” in the drug trade.