A man with the highest bounty ever put in place by the US Marshals Service has been captured by police in El Salvador six years after he went on the run.
Raymond “RJ” McLeod, 36, was found living in Sonsonate, a city of around 71,000 people, about 12 miles (20km) from the Pacific Ocean.
In April of last year, the Marshals put Mr McLeod on their “Most Wanted” list of the top 15 fugitives. They issued an offer of $50,000 for information prompting his arrest, twice the usual amount.
The bodybuilder is a suspect in the 2016 murder of Krystal Mitchell, 30, whom he was dating at the time. The killing allegedly took place in the San Diego apartment they were staying in while visiting friends in the city.
Ms Mitchell was found strangled to death. They had previously visited a bar, where Mr McLeod had a dispute with a fellow ex-Marine, leading to the three of them being forced to leave the establishment.
The couple returned to the apartment, and Ms Mitchell was found deceased the following day, with “signs of a struggle” at the scene, according to the US Marshals Service.
Mr McLeod had been violent previously, according to the authorities. He fled through Mexico and Central America, being seen in Guatemala in 2017 and in Belize in 2018.
Calling him “armed and dangerous”, the US Marshals service described Mr McLeod as “an avid bodybuilder and a heavy drinker” with a “history of domestic violence”. They said he’s a “5-foot-11 white male with brown hair and hazel eyes,” adding that he “weighed 245 pounds and had a tattooed muscular physique” when he fled the country.
The service said he “fled California immediately after the alleged murder”.
US Marshal Steve Stafford of the Southern District of California said in a statement last year that “the passage of time will never deter the Marshals’ fugitive investigation for McLeod”.
“If anything, it fuels our determination. We will leave no stone unturned until he is brought to justice,” he added.
Donald Washington, the director of the US Marshals, said in a statement last year that “Raymond McLeod will be the first fugitive in history on our 15 Most Wanted list with an initial reward of up to $50,000”.
“We want McLeod’s new status as a 15 Most Wanted fugitive and the $50,000 reward amount to be broadcasted far and wide. McLeod poses a significant threat to the public and must be brought to justice,” he added at the time.
Deputy Marshals Francisco Barajas and Luis Ramires flew down to El Salvador to aid local police in the arrest of Mr McLeod after receiving a tip that he was teaching English in Sonsonate, according to Fox News Digital.
He was arrested at around 4.30pm PT on Monday.
Ms Mitchell’s mother, former detective Josephine Wentzel, put her retirement on pause to find her daughter’s alleged killer.
On Monday night, she said Mr Barajas and US Marshals Task Force Chief Frankie Sanchez, had done “excellent work”.
“I have had faith and trust in them, and ever since meeting Francisco Barajas, I had full confidence that this day would come, and he would be the one to catch him,” she said, according to Fox News Digital. “I told him, ‘You are my hero. We are bonded for life.’”
