Arrest made in case of man found dead behind East Valley bus stop

PHOENIX – A suspect was arrested Tuesday in connection with a fatal stabbing in Guadalupe last month, authorities said.

Roman Rubalcava, 36, was taken into custody and booked into jail on one count of first-degree murder, according to the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office.

He is accused of fatally stabbing 65-year-old Amalio Castillo-Villareal, whose body was found on Sept. 11 by a patrol deputy behind a bus stop on Avenida del Yaqui, just north of Calle Guadalupe, MCSO said.

Guadalupe is a small East Valley town tucked between Tempe and Phoenix’s Ahwatukee neighborhood. It doesn’t have its own police department and contracts MCSO for law enforcement services.

Detectives had little to go on at first in terms of leads or physical evidence, but they worked to eventually identify Rubalcava as the suspect.

No other details about the case were made available.

“Even when the trail seems cold, our detectives never stop pursuing justice for victims and their families,” Sheriff Jerry Sheridan said in a press release. “Their commitment to finding answers and holding offenders accountable represents the very best of law enforcement service to our community.”

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