Authorities in Virginia announced Monday that they have arrested a man who had been on the run for years and is accused of stabbing his estranged wife to death 30 years ago.
Fairfax County Police announced that Jose Cruz is wanted for the April 30, 1991 murder of Ana Jurado, 24. At the time of the murder, the two were married but in the process of divorce.
According to police, Jurado was a mother of three children at the time of her death.
“This is not really a traditional cold case,” Police Chief Kevin Davis told reporters. “It was resolved virtually immediately. He was cornered and on the run. He was avoiding his responsibility for what he did some 33 years ago.”
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Authorities said Jurado was found on the side of a road in Falls Church after a neighbor heard her screams and called 911. She died from “trauma to her upper body,” police said.
An arrest warrant has been issued for Mr. Cruz on charges of first-degree murder. Police said the man fled to El Salvador, where he lived for 30 years. Cruz was captured while traveling from Nicaragua to Costa Rica in 2022 and was extradited to the United States last week.
Photos of Jose Cruz, 33 years apart, before and after the murder of his estranged wife in 1991. Cruz was extradited to the United States from El Salvador to face criminal charges in Virginia. (Fairfax County Police Department)
Investigators traveled to El Salvador in 1999 to try to determine Mr. Cruz's whereabouts, but nothing materialized at that time.
Police said Cruz attempted to enter Canada before fleeing to El Salvador, but was denied entry due to fraudulent identification. Canadian border officials said they noticed a new cut on his hand.
Authorities said Cruz then took a bus to Houston, where he illegally entered Mexico. From there he ended up in El Salvador. Police say there was no extradition “mechanism” in place in the Central American country at the time.
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Investigators said Cruz worked as a truck driver in El Salvador, remarried and had several children.
“We believe he was crossing the (Nicaraguan-Costa Rica) border to visit family when he was captured,” said Fairfax County Police Lt. Eli Corey. “I can imagine that after 30 years, maybe he's a little bit more comfortable.”
