Manuel Alejandro Vasquez sentenced to 25 years to life after fleeing to Mexico following 1998 murder

VENTURA, Calif. (KEYT) – Manuel Alejandro Vasquez, 48, received a 25 year to life sentence in state prison after murdering Felipe Arambula in 1998, according to the Ventura County District Attorney's Office.

Vazquez previously pled guilty on September 30 to first-degree murder after he and another man shot and killed Arambula at his Ventura home on June 13, 1998, according to the VCDAO.

A Ventura Police investigation revealed that Vasquez and the other man were hired to kidnap and extort Arambula over an unpaid debt, according to the VCDAO.

The man who hired Vasquez and his accomplice were both convicted of murder in 1999 and each received a life sentence in prison without parole, according to the VCDAO.

Vasquez eventually fled to Mexico before charges were filed where he stayed a fugitive until he was apprehended in 2023 and eventually extradited to Ventura County in April 2025.