BY DEBBI BAKER, REPORTER - POLICE & FIRE
WEDNESDAY, JULY 13, 2011 AT 11:55 A.M.
SAN DIEGO — A fugitive who authorities said stabbed his estranged wife to death five years ago and then fled to Mexico was returned to the United States Wednesday.
Mauricio Tadeo — San Diego Police Department
Mauricio Tadeo, 46, who was arrested near Mexico City by FBI agents, was taken into custody by San Diego police in Los Angeles about 10 a.m., homicide Lt. Kevin Rooney said.
He was driven to San Diego where he was booked into jail on one count of murder, Rooney said.
Tadeo, a Mexican citizen, is suspected in the death of 36-year old Alma Tadeo, who was attacked in front of her Southcrest home on Boston Avenue on Jan. 26, 2006.
The mother of three was pronounced dead at 1:48 p.m., and Tadeo’s black Nissan pickup was recorded crossing the border less than an hour later, Rooney said. It was found the next day at Tijuana International Airport.
“He’s been in Mexico ever since,” Rooney said.
A warrant was issued for Tadeo’s arrest in February 2006 and detectives then worked with Mexican authorities to secure an arrest warrant in that country. That was granted in October 2010 and Tadeo was taken into custody at a relative's home on Feb. 17.
The couple had two sons and a daughter who were 11, 15 and 16 years old at the time.
The children were put into foster care and were later separated when the youngest was adopted by a family in Washington, Rooney said.
Tadeo is being held without bail. He is expected to be arraigned on Friday.
Rooney said that telling the children that their mother had been killed by their father was devastating.
“One of the hardest things I have ever done was waiting for that school bus that day to tell the children that they didn’t have a home anymore,” Rooney said.
The lieutenant said he is thankful the suspect was located and apprehended after being on the lam for so long.
“We never forget,” the lieutenant said.
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