Thread: FUGITIVE MURDER SUSPECT RETURNED FROM MEXICO

Fugitive murder suspect returned to Murrieta

By: JOHN HUNNEMAN - Staff Writer
North County Times
CALIFORNIA

MURRIETA ---- The second-longest manhunt in Murrieta Police Department history ended Friday when a Mead Valley man, who fled to Mexico two years ago after allegedly shooting and killing an Army National Guardsman at a Murrieta apartment complex, was returned to this country to face a murder charge.

Escorted by a U.S. marshal and an investigator from the Riverside County district attorney's office, Fabian Cayetano Urrea, 21, arrived at Los Angeles International Airport around noon following a flight from Mexico. The former fugitive was then handed over to Murrieta police, who drove him to the city's police station for questioning.

He was to be taken to the Southwest Detention Center where he will be held without bail, authorities said.

Urrea, who was arrested in January in Culiacan, the largest city in the state of Sinaloa, is charged in an arrest warrant with the murder of Jorge Estrada, 24, in June 2005.

Estrada had been home from Iraq on emergency leave to be with his wife, Diana, who was going to give birth to a baby he did not father, but one he had accepted as his own, police said at the time.

On the morning of June 9, 2005, Urrea ---- Diana Estrada's former boyfriend and the biological father of the infant ---- arrived at the Estradas' Jackson Avenue apartment to see the baby girl, police said.

During an argument in the apartment complex's parking lot over the child's custody, Urrea fired three shots at point-blank range from a 9mm semiautomatic handgun killing Jorge Estrada, according to Murrieta police.

Urrea fled the scene. Police later learned two of his relatives, a sister from Hemet and an aunt who lived in Homeland, helped Urrea escape to Mexico. Both women were arrested and later pleaded guilty to being accessories to the murder. Each has been sentenced to jail time and probation.

Urrea arrived about 2 p.m. at the Murrieta police station in an unmarked sport utility vehicle driven by Detective Sgt. Jim Ganley, who led a nearly two-year effort to find the suspect and return him to face the murder charge.

Murrieta police and law enforcement agencies on both sides of the border worked together to find Urrea, arrest him and bring him back to California, authorities said.

"We have a Fugitive Apprehension Unit," said Ingrid Wyatt, spokeswoman for the Riverside County district attorney's office. "That's their job. We're in contact with Mexican law enforcement authorities."

Ganley praised the efforts of all involved including the U.S. Marshals Service.

"They had as much passion for getting Fabian in custody as I did," he said. "If it wasn't for them and the Mexican authorities, (Urrea) would still be in Mexico."

Murrieta police said Urrea was known to have relatives in the Culiacan area and was also a motorcycle enthusiast. He was arrested Jan. 30 at a motorcycle shop in that city where he worked.

After several months in custody in Mexico while hearings were held and paperwork was filed, Urrea's extradition to the United States was approved last week.

"My understanding is that he chose not to fight the extradition," Ganley said. "If he had, it could have taken six months to two years for him to be returned."

Ganley said his department had contacted Estrada's wife and mother to let them know Urrea was being returned.

"We're glad we can bring some closure to the Estrada family," Ganley said.

Ganley added that the return of Urrea also brought him some personal closure.

"If we hadn't gotten him, this would have bugged me for the rest of my career," Ganley said.

Urrea is expected to be arraigned at Southwest Justice Center early next week, Wyatt said.

The longest manhunt in the short history of the Murrieta Police Department ---- founded shortly after the city incorporated in 1991---- is ongoing. Sophia Briseno, then a 13-year-old Thompson Middle School student, was found stabbed to death in 1996 in a field not far from her home.
Two suspects in the case, who are believed to have fled to Mexico, remain at large.

Contact staff writer John Hunneman at (951) 676-4315, Ext. 2603, or jhunneman@californian.com.

http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2007/06 ... 6_1_07.txt




Murder suspect Fabian Urrea, shown here accompanied by Murrieta Detective Jeff Ullrich, arrived in Murrieta in shackles after being held in a Mexican jail since February.


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http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2007/06 ... 6_1_07.txt

Now we need to revoke citizenship of the 2 criminals that helped him flee.