Thread: UT-Man arrested in Payson on murder warrant from Mexico

Man arrested in Payson on murder warrant from Mexico

Janice Peterson
Provo Daily Herald
Posted: Thursday, August 13, 2009

PAYSON -- A Mexican national and Provo resident wanted for murder was arrested last week in a bizarre coincidence, after his alleged victim's sister spotted him at a Payson pool.

Police say Jose Guadalupe Cruz-Navarro, 33, has a murder warrant in Mexico and has been living in the United States to escape prosecution.

"There was a homicide that occurred in Jalisco, Mexico, that occurred about 10 or 11 years ago," said Mike Wingert, supervisory deputy for the U.S. Marshals task force in Utah.

Wingert said the murder stemmed from a family dispute between Cruz-Navarro and his cousin. Cruz-Navarro allegedly chased his cousin down on a family farm and shot him in front of the man's two children, 5 and 6 years old. It is unclear whether Cruz-Navarro was ever arrested in Mexico or if there was only a warrant, but Wingert said he eluded Mexican authorities for years, until last week.

Cruz-Navarro was arrested Aug. 7 after the victim's sister saw him at a public pool in Payson, said Payson Lt. Bill Wright. The sister called a family member, who called a police officer she knew. By the time police arrived at the pool, the man was gone, but officers obtained a description of his van and license plate. Wright said a Payson officer on his way to help with the annual Salmon Supper saw Cruz-Navarro's van and followed him until a marked police car could pull him over. Another responding Payson officer knew members of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and was able to call and determine Cruz-Navarro's immigration status and place him in custody.

"It was a combination of real good police work and just dumb luck," Wright said.

In order to preserve suspects' rights, Wright said police generally cannot hold a person long without a charge. However, the pieces fell in the right place as Cruz-Navarro had immigration issues and could be placed in custody while officers confirmed he had a warrant. Wright said family members have seen Cruz-Navarro from time to time over the years, but never in a situation where he could be caught.

Wingert said the series of events that happened after Cruz-Navarro was stopped are a great example of interagency cooperation. The responding Payson police officer is a member of the Joint Criminal Apprehension Team, which includes members of several agencies, including the U.S. Marshals and ICE. The officer contacted a marshal, who ran Cruz-Navarro's name through a United States criminal database. His name was not found, because the crime occurred in Mexico, Wingert said.

At this point, Cruz-Navarro could have been lost in the shuffle and merely deported, Wingert said, if officers had not been told of his warrant. Instead, ICE was contacted, and the agency confirmed his warrant through liaisons working with the Mexican government.

"Absent the victim's sister calling law enforcement, we don't know (about the warrant)," he said.

Wingert said a person can only be held for about an hour without a charge, and Cruz-Navarro was placed in custody on an ICE hold for immigration violations. However, authorities were able to contact the Mexican government in time because of a series of networks in place, and maybe a little luck, he said. The victim's sister had an idea Cruz-Navarro might be in Utah, but Wingert said the sighting appears to be a complete coincidence.

"Maybe the moon and the stars all lined up right," he said.

Jonathan Lines, special agent in charge for the office of investigations for ICE in Utah, said immigration issues have been an especially touchy subject lately in Utah, but this shows there are success stories. But for good cooperation between all agencies, past experience has shown Cruz-Navarro likely would have only been deported.

"We know that he'd been removed before, after the apparent incident in Mexico," he said.

Despite Cruz-Navarro's past deportation, Lines said he has been in Utah again since at least 2005. There are far too many foreign nationals arrested every day for ICE to be able to find out about every warrant. However, each person involved in this case knew who to contact to get the answers they needed to hold the man.

Lines said scores of people from countries all over the world come to the United States to avoid prosecution. It is imperative to have networks in place to coordinate the transfer of criminals back to their home country, he said.

The transfer of Cruz-Navarro will not be a standard extradition; he will be physically handed over to Mexican authorities.

"We are in contact with Mexican authorities now," Lines said. "He will be administratively removed based on his immigration violations."

http://heraldextra.com/news/local/artic ... 48e82.html

So now they run to the US to escape capture in Mexico. Gosh this just makes me want to swear.