By Tim StellohNBC
News
A Latino man was extradited last week from Mexico, accused of strangling to death two Utah women - one of whom was pregnant - exactly two years apart.
Juan Antonio Arreola-Murillo, 41, was booked into the Salt Lake County jail on charges of aggravated murder, aggravated robbery and aggravated robbery, the district attorney's office said in a statement Monday.
The first crime occurred on February 9, 2006. A neighbor claimed to have seen a man
grab Sonia Mejía by the neck and hit her head against the access door to her apartment
in Taylorsville, a small town south of Salt Lake. City, according to his statement in the county's Third District Court.
Sonía Mejía was 6 months pregnant when she was strangled to death.
Her baby did not survive.KSL via Taylorsville Police Department
Mejia, who
was six months pregnant
, fell to the ground and the assailant entered her apartment, according to court documents.
The woman's husband found her about six hours after the attack.
The victim's keys, car, two rings and a pendant were missing.
The autopsy determined that Mejía had been strangled.
The fetus did not survive
.
Fingerprints obtained from a bag of Cheetos and a bottle of Coca-Cola left at the house, however,
did not match an identified DNA profile
.
[“My children are dead!”: the three little brothers murdered by their mother in California were found by their father]
The second crime Arreola-Murillo is accused of took place on February 9, 2008, in West Valley City, a few blocks from where Mejía lived.
Damiana Castillo's body was found at the entrance to her apartment.
During the search, the police found an overturned table and the contents of his wallet scattered on the sofa.
The autopsy also determined that Castillo died of strangulation.
A fingerprint found on Castillo's wallet matched those obtained at Mejía's home
, although it still did not match known DNA.
The district attorney's office, however, charged the alleged shooter in 2010 with aggravated murder.
Damiana Castillo died in 2008. The autopsy determined that she had also been strangled. Damiana Castillo died in 2008. The autopsy determined that she had also been strangled.
/ KSL via West Valley City Police Department
But 6 years later,
a fingerprint database connected those of the murderer of both women with those of Arreola-Murillo
, who by then had been deported to Mexico.
"Since 2008, multiple detectives have continued to try, continue to test, and continue to seek answers in this case.
It has paid off and we are grateful
. We hope that seeing the person responsible for this crime held accountable brings at least some peace to the family of Mrs. Castillo," said police spokeswoman Roxeanne Vainuku, in statements reported by local television KSL.
The district attorney's office did not disclose where Arreola-Murillo was in Mexico, or how he found him.