Murder Suspect Who Fled to Mexico Facing Charges in Santa Paula
A former resident of Santa Paula was returned to the United States Friday, following his arrest in Mexico. Everardo Meza Alamillo will face charges in Ventura County for the 1993 murder of his estranged wife and her boyfriend.
On August 5, 1994, Meza Alamillo was indicted with two counts of murder by a grand jury in Ventura County, and a no bail warrant was issued for his arrest.
When detectives determined that Meza Alamillo fled the country, the FBI was asked to assist in locating and apprehending him in order to return the suspect to California for prosecution. Meza Alamillo was charged in United States District Court in Los Angeles in a federal criminal complaint with Unlawful Flight to Avoid Prosecution (UFAP) on August 25, 1994.
Meza Alamillo, 46, a former resident of Santa Paula and a Mexican national, was arrested in Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico, last November following a joint investigation among detectives with the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office; FBI agents in California and Mexico City; and Mexican law enforcement officials.
According to court documents, detectives identified Meza Alamillo as a suspect in the murder of his child’s mother, Adriana Castanon Meza, then-21, and her boyfriend, Armando Cauich, then-22, in Santa Paula in October 1993. Detectives determined that Meza Alamillo fled to Mexico shortly after the murder.
A provisional arrest warrant was recently issued in Mexico when investigators determined the specific location where Meza Alamillo had been residing.
Meza Alamillo was held by authorities in Mexico City during extradition proceedings there.
Detectives with the Santa Paula Police Department continue to investigate the double murder. The fugitive investigation and arrest was conducted in collaboration with the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office; Mexican law enforcement officials, to include the Policia Federal Ministerial; Interpol; the FBI’s Legal Attache in Mexico City and the FBI’s Ventura County Resident Agency.
The FBI continues to work with local law enforcement to apprehend violent criminals charged with state crimes who then flee the jurisdiction interstate or internationally. Photos and descriptions of many fugitives wanted by the FBI can be found at www.fbi.gov.
