Fugitive in Murrieta murder caught in Mexico

North County Times ^ | 1-31-07 | JOHN HALL

[radar101]

A fugitive sought for the shooting death of a member of the Army National Guard in a Murrieta apartment parking lot was captured Tuesday in Mexico.

Fabian Cayetano Urrea, 21, of Mead Valley, was found and arrested at his job in Culiacan, the largest city in the state of Sinaloa, Murrieta police Detective Sgt. Jim Ganley said.

Urrea is charged in an arrest warrant with murdering 24-year-old Jorge Estrada the morning of June 9, 2005. Estrada, who was deployed to Iraq, was home on emergency leave when he was killed.

"There's going to be justice now for my son," Maria Lopez, Estrada's mother, said by telephone Tuesday.

"I've always had faith (Urrea) would be caught, but sometimes I lost it a little," she said. "Inside, I knew it would take a long time, I think."

When she first heard from police that the man charged with her son's murder had been arrested, Lopez said she started shaking and crying. Hours later, she said she was having a hard time expressing how she feels.

Ganley wasn't having as much difficulty.

"I am tickled pink that he's in custody," the sergeant said. "The family of a U.S. soldier who was brutally murdered can finally rest. Justice can finally be served."

Ganley said he received a call about 10 a.m. that Urrea had been apprehended in Mexico.

Murrieta detectives discovered soon after the murder that Urrea had been driven to the Mexican border by his aunt.

Government and law enforcement officials on both sides of the border, including the U.S. Marshals Service, worked together to find the American fugitive, Ganley said.

"We knew he was down there -- we just didn't know absolutely where he was," the sergeant said.

"We sent along information about a relative of Urrea's who lived in the (Culiacan) area," Ganley said.

He added that the city is about eight hours south of Mexicali.

"We also knew Urrea was into motorcycles," the sergeant said. "He was found working at a motorcycle shop."

Urrea was taken into custody without incident, Ganley said.

Estrada, a National Guard specialist, had been home on emergency leave just five days before he was shot to death. Estrada's wife, Diana, 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.

But on the morning of June 9, 2005, Urrea -- Diana Estrada's former boyfriend -- came to the couple's apartment complex on Jackson Avenue to see the baby girl he believed was his, police said.

There was an argument about custody of the little girl during which Urrea fired three shots at point-blank range from a 9mm semiautomatic handgun, killing Jorge Estrada, according to Murrieta police. While holding the newborn baby in her arms, Diana Estrada witnessed the killing.

Urrea immediately fled, police said, and a warrant for his arrest was issued by a judge.

Steve Bogan knew Jorge Estrada for about six years, meeting him in Georgia through his best friend who served with him in the Army National Guard.

"He loved his wife very much," Bogan said by telephone from Pennsylvania on Tuesday afternoon. "He was happy he was gonna be a dad."

Bogan said he and Estrada swapped e-mails while Estrada was deployed. In the last message, which was sent about a week before he was killed, Estrada wrote about coming home to be with Diana, Bogan said.

Speaking about Urrea's arrest Tuesday, Bogan said it will allow those who knew and loved Estrada to get some closure.

He said there has been a lot of anger and hatred toward Estrada's killer about the way he just left, Bogan said.

"We weren't able to get any closure or to really grieve because we knew he was still out there somewhere," he said.

"Now we can finally let that go. We can release that anger and hatred and finally grieve," Bogan said.

He said he always believed that Urrea would be found and now, Bogan said, "He'll be getting the justice he deserves."

However, finding and arresting Urrea is just the first step.

In custody in Mexico, it will take some time before Urrea can be returned to the United States to face the charges against him.

A spokeswoman for the Riverside County district attorney's office said they are in the process of getting Urrea extradited back to America.

Ganley said he's been told Urrea will go through a hearing in Mexico after which officials there will notify American authorities when and where Urrea will be delivered back into this country. The sergeant said that could take up to several months.

Until he is brought back to the United States, Murrieta detectives will not be able to question Urrea about the murder he is accused of committing, the sergeant said.

"We don't know if he's said anything about what happened," Ganley said. "We just have to wait until he comes back across the border to us."

Estrada's mother said she understands it could be a while before Urrea comes back to face the murder charge.

"I've waited 18 months, why not wait a little bit more?" Lopez asked.

-- Contact staff writer John Hall at (951) 676-4315, Ext. 2628, or jhall@californian.com.

[bondjamesbond]

Murrieta detectives discovered soon after the murder that Urrea had been driven to the Mexican border by his aunt.

So, how many years will his aunt spend in jail? If the answer is "zero", there is something seriously wrong with the system.