Man arrested in woman's slaying

Widow stabbed to death in Garden Grove apartment last week; ex-boyfriend caught at border, authorities say.
By KIMBERLY EDDS

The Orange County Register

GARDEN GROVE – A man accused of stabbing his ex-girlfriend to death while her three young children were in the next room was arrested on suspicion of murder after being captured coming across the Mexican border Wednesday, authorities said.


Fidel Sanchez began dating Silvia Aguayo Picazo after her husband died from cancer three years ago, according to neighbors. But the relationship became rocky.

About 2 a.m. Sept. 14, Garden Grove police say, Sanchez came back to Picazo's apartment in the 13600 block of Fairview Street, stabbed her to death, and left. Her children – a 12-year-old boy, a 10-year-old girl, and a 3-year-old boy – were sleeping nearby.

Screams from the apartment brought officers to the apartment, where they found Picazo's body and her three frightened children. Two other adults were in the apartment at the time, Lt. Travis Whitman said.

Sanchez, who was sentenced to 180 days in jail in a 2004 domestic violence case, was named a person of interest hours later.

The trail to find Sanchez led Garden Grove investigators to a commercial complex at the I-5 freeway and Alicia Parkway in Mission Viejo, where they found his abandoned brown Ford Ranger pickup Tuesday, said Garden Grove police Lt. Dennis Ellsworth.

The same day, a warrant was issued for Sanchez for violating his probation in the 2004 domestic violence case.

Working on a tip that Sanchez may have headed to San Diego and could be in Mexico, Garden Grove homicide detectives worked Wednesday with the Border Patrol and California Highway Patrol officers working near the U.S.-Mexico border to be on the lookout for Sanchez, Ellsworth said.

Within two hours, CHP officers had picked Sanchez up as he tried to come back into the United States, Ellsworth said.

Garden Grove detectives picked Sanchez up from the San Diego CHP office and arrested him on the warrant for violating probation. They brought him back to Orange County, questioned him about Picazo, and arrested him for her murder, Ellsworth said.

Sanchez is being held without bail at the Orange County Jail. He is scheduled to be arraigned Monday in the West Justice Center.

Contact the writer: 714-796-7829 or kedds@ocregister.com

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