KALAMAZOO (WKZO AM/FM) — A Portage man charged with a double murder that appears to have been fueled by jealousy has waived his preliminary exam to one of those killings and will proceed to trial.
In this particular case Zachary Patten is charged with gunning down Graciela Portillo-Esparza at the Americana Mobile Home Park in July.
Investigators say she intervened in a fight between Patten and her brother over an ex-girlfriend, and was shot in his stead.
He has been charged separately in St. Joseph for the shooting death of Shane Richardson, which took place the same night as the Kalamazoo killing. Richardson was the new husband of Patten’s ex-wife.
