http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/loca ... 5446.story

Spouse held in fatal stabbing
He also faces charges in daughter's abduction

By Charles Sheehan
Tribune staff reporter
Published June 8, 2006, 12:42 PM CDT


UPDATE: Fidel Carrasco was ordered held in lieu of $2 million bond during a hearing today in Cook County Criminal Court on charges of first-degree murder and aggravated kidnapping.

A man arrested late Monday after a nationwide manhunt was charged Wednesday in the death of his wife and the kidnapping of his 16-month-old daughter, police said.

Fidel Carrasco, 47, is charged with first-degree murder in the death of Maria Del Rocio Medina, who was found fatally stabbed Sunday in the couple's home in the 4000 block of West 30th Street in the Little Village neighborhood.

Carrasco also is charged with aggravated kidnapping of a child under 13. Carrasco and his 16-month-old daughter were found at a home on Chicago's Northwest Side about 10:30 p.m. Monday after an Amber Alert for the girl had been issued earlier in the day.

Carrasco, also known as Daniel Medina, is scheduled to appear at a bond hearing at noon Thursday in the Cook County Criminal Courts Building, according to the state's attorney's office.

Police said Tuesday that Carrasco also is wanted in Mexico for the murder of a federal agent.

According to police, a warrant was issued for Carrasco in 2004 for his alleged involvement in the death of an agent working for Mexico's Agencia Federal de Investigacion, an equivalent to the FBI.

Police could not say if that was why Carrasco came to the United States, but family members had said Monday that Carrasco was not likely to try to flee to his home state of Durango because he was wanted for murder there.

Police said they found Carrasco in the basement of the Northwest Side home and he did not resist arrest. According to a source, a registered sex offender living at the address tipped off police after becoming worried that Carrasco's presence would be a parole violation.

The slain woman's brother, Jose Medina of Cicero, said he has custody of his sister's three children: the 16-month-old, a 3-year-old boy and a 2-month-old boy. The boys were found in the home when their mother's body was discovered Sunday.

Kendall Marlowe, a spokesman with the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, said, "We cannot provide specific details on the case, but the kids are with a relative."

Police said Carrasco would be sent to Mexico only if he were to be exonerated here or after he completed a prison sentence, but Mexican Consulate officials disagreed.

An extradition treaty between the two countries requires that Carrasco, a Mexican national, be extradited to his place of birth to face prosecution first, said Amber Gilmore of the Mexican Consulate.

Hoy, a Tribune Co. publication, contributed to this report.

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csheehan@tribune.com