A former Lafayette man accused of fatally shooting his ex-girlfriend could appear before a Tippecanoe County judge this week, more than six years after the woman's body was found.

Tereso Pacheco, 45, managed to elude authorities until about a year ago when he was arrested in Mexico on unrelated offenses. Mexican authorities approved his extradition to Indiana.

"All together ... it's been a very challenging process," said Tippecanoe County Prosecutor Pat Harrington, whose office sought help from the U.S. Department of Justice.

Harrington said Pacheco arrived about noon Wednesday at a Houston airport, where he was taken into custody by a Tippecanoe County sheriff's deputy and an FBI agent.

They were expected to fly into Indiana late Wednesday, Sheriff Tracy Brown said.

Tied to death of ex-girlfriend
Pacheco was charged in the death of Juanita Santa Rosa, also known as Sanjuana Santarrosa, 46, after police located a vehicle he had been driving abandoned in Iron County, Utah. This came just days after Santa Rosa's body was found Sept. 15, 2002, alongside Lilly Road in Tippecanoe County.

Physical evidence, including blood splatter that matched Santa Rosa's DNA and .22-caliber cartridges, suggested that Santa Rosa may have been shot inside the Pontiac Bonneville.

According to court documents, investigators suspected that Pacheco was angry over Santa Rosa's new boyfriend, who had reported that Pacheco threatened him with a handgun.

"Obviously we established enough probable cause to charge him, but not all of our work is done. It's still an open investigation," said Brown, explaining that detectives need to contact Santa Rosa's family in the coming days.

Most of them no longer live in Tippecanoe County.

Featured twice on 'Most Wanted'
Pacheco had been briefly highlighted on two episodes of "America's Most Wanted" in July 2004 and October 2007.

To get Pacheco, a Mexican national, extradited, local authorities had to take Indiana's charges and file them using federal forms. Those forms then were translated to Spanish for use in a Mexican court.

" ... Ultimately a Mexican judge agreed that the United States does have legal reason to request extradition," Harrington said.

Santa Rosa's then-boyfriend, Edmundo Huerta, still lives in Lafayette. He could not be reached Wednesday for comment.

Pacheco could appear before a judge as early as today.


http://jconline.com/article/20090226/NEWS03/902260347