California church pastor Samuel Pasillas allegedly paid hitman $40K to kill daughter’s boyfriend in murder-for-hire plot

A California pastor and crazed father was arrested Tuesday after he allegedly paid several men nearly $40,000 in a murder-for-hire plot against his daughter’s boyfriend.

Samuel Pasillas, 47, was charged in the October 2023 shooting of an unidentified man who was romantically linked to his daughter, according to the Riverside Police Department.

“During their investigation, detectives uncovered evidence the father met with the men he hired and provided them information about the victim, including his location the evening of the shooting,” the department said in a press release.

Pasillas allegedly paid the men to conduct surveillance on the victim in the weeks before the shooting.

The victim was shot several times inside his car while driving in the Orangecrest neighborhood of Riverside around 7 p.m. on Oct. 21, 2023.

“The male adult victim stated he was driving on Grove Community Drive approaching Plainview Street when another vehicle pulled up alongside him,” the statement said. “Gunfire came from this other vehicle and he was struck several times.”

The man drove himself to a nearby hospital where he was treated for the gunshots, which he is reportedly still recovering from, after five months.

Pasillas is the pastor at the Spanish-speaking church, Centro Internacional de Oracion in Victorville, Calif.

Pasillas was arrested and charged with solicitation for murder, conspiracy to commit murder, attempted murder, and assault with a deadly weapon, all felony charges jail records viewed by The Post revealed.

The pastor has pleaded not guilty to the charges, according to the Los Angeles Times, citing court records.

A motive for the murder-for-hire plot was not revealed but authorities say Pasillas could have been driven by his religion and beliefs to hire the hitmen, according to KTLA.

A second man, 55-year-old Juan Manuel Cebreros who is believed to be one of the gunmen, was arrested and charged with conspiracy to commit murder, attempted murder, and assault with a deadly weapon. 

They are both being held at the Robert Presley Detention Center in Riverside, each on $1 million bails.

It was unclear how many other suspects were linked to the attempted murder, but at least one man has yet to be charged, the LA Times said, citing court records.

Last month, a former Missouri middle school principal admitted to hiring a hitman to murder a teacher who was pregnant with his child.

Cornelius Green, the former principal of Carr Lane Visual and Performing Arts Middle School in St. Louis, Mo., pleaded guilty to one count of murder-for-hire and one count of conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire for the 2016 killing of Jocelyn Peters, according to Law & Crime.

The St. Louis Circuit Attorney’s Office agreed to dismiss state murder charges if he was sentenced to life in prison on the federal charges.