Husband accused in wife’s murder arrested after 30 years

A husband accused of stabbing to death his estranged wife in Virginia has been arrested trying to enter Costa Rica after more than 30 years on the run — and was hauled back to the US to face murder charges, police said.

Jose Lazaro Cruz was surrendered to US Marshals Service Thursday and booked into a Northern Virginia jail, the Fairfax County police announced in a press conference Monday.

“This really isn’t a traditional cold case. It was solved, virtually, right away,” said Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis. “He was on the lam, he was on the run. He avoided accountability for something he did nearly 33 years ago.”

Cruz was 24 years old when he was identified as the prime suspect in the killing of his wife, Ana Jurado, on April, 30, 1991 in West Falls Church.

Less than two weeks later, detectives secured a felony murder warrant for Cruz, but he evaded arrest by fleeing the country through the southern border with the help of a smuggler, leaving behind his three young children, including an infant.

The fugitive was tracked to El Salvador, but he could not be brought to justice because the Central American country at the time had no extradition mechanism that would allow for his forced return to the US.   

“We believe that he started an entire new family in El Salvador,” said Lt. Col. Eli Cory, with the Fairfax County Police Department.  

Police said Cruz worked as a truck driver to support his second wife and several children.  

“Thirty years later, I can imagine that he probably got a little comfortable, thought he was moving forward… which kind of helped us locate him,” Cory said.

In 1999, police detectives traveled from Virginia to El Salvador to gather information about Cruz that eventually helped secure his arrest.

In 2022, Cruz was crossing into Costa Rica from Nicaragua to visit family when he was collared by local authorities, who then alerted the Department of Justice.

After a year-and-a-half-long extradition process, the fugitive was finally back on US soil.

He is currently being held at the Fairfax County jail while he awaits trial.

“We’ve never forgotten the family,” Chief Davis said, referring to the victim’s loved ones. “We’ve never forgotten the seriousness of this senseless crime and we never stopped.”