Husband kills wife, then spends 30 years on the run, cops say. He’s found in Costa Rica

An estranged husband went on the run for more than 30 years after he was accused of stabbing his wife to death in 1991, Virginia police said.

Then he was found in Costa Rica.

Jose Lazaro Cruz was extradited to the U.S. on Jan. 18, the Fairfax County Police Department announced in a Jan. 22 news release.

Ana Jurado, 24, was found with fatal stab wounds on April 30, 1991, and she died at the scene, police said. Her husband, 24-year-old Lazaro Cruz, was identified as the suspect, but he fled to El Salvador before he could be arrested, police said.

Fairfax County detectives traveled to the country in 1999 to find him.

“During this trip, they gathered crucial information regarding Lazaro Cruz’s whereabouts and their meticulous efforts continued to lay the foundation for a thorough investigation,” police said in the release.

But Lazaro Cruz wasn’t captured, and the search for him continued.

In 2022, more than two decades after detectives went to El Salvador, the Department of Justice learned Lazaro Cruz was arrested trying to cross from Nicaragua into Costa Rica, police said.

Costa Rica has an extradition treaty with the U.S., but the process of bringing Lazaro Cruz back to the U.S. took roughly a year and a half with the assistance of federal authorities.

U.S. marshals took him into custody Jan. 18 for extradition.

He’ll face charges in Fairfax County, which is part of the Washington, D.C., suburban area.

This story was originally published January 22, 2024 at 5:25 PM with the headline "Husband kills wife, then spends 30 years on the run, cops say. He’s found in Costa Rica."