Phoenix fugitive sought in 2016 killing of girlfriend captured in El Salvador

SAN DIEGO (AP) — An Arizona man wanted for the killing of his girlfriend in San Diego in 2016 was captured in El Salvador, the U.S. Marshals Service said.

Raymond McLeod, 37, who was on the U.S. Marshals’ 15 Most Wanted list, was taken into custody Monday afternoon by local law enforcement and confirmed his identity to accompanying U.S. authorities, the service said in a statement Tuesday.

Authorities were tipped off that McLeod had been teaching English at a school in the city of Sonsonate.

McLeod was booked into a San Diego jail early Wednesday after being transported from El Salvador, and he will be arraigned Friday, the San Diego County District Attorney’s office said. It was not immediately known if he had an attorney who could comment on the allegations.

McLeod, a former U.S. Marine, is accused of killing Krystal Mitchell, 30. Both McLeod and Mitchell lived in Phoenix but at the time were visiting a friend in San Diego.

U.S. Marshals 15 Most Wanted fugitive Raymond McLeod, 37, wanted by the San Diego Police Department for the 2016 murder of 30-year-old Krystal Mitchell, was taken into custody Monday afternoon by El Salvadoran law enforcement authorities without incident: https://t.co/x9GezMfevj pic.twitter.com/M9UkXjEuOm

— U.S. Marshals (@USMarshalsHQ) August 30, 2022

On June 10, 2016, the friend found Mitchell not breathing and paramedics pronounced her dead. Homicide detectives found signs of a struggle.

“They determined Mitchell was last seen alive with her boyfriend McLeod,” the statement said.

San Diego County prosecutors charged McLeod with murder, and a warrant was issued for his arrest.

The U.S. Marshals Service subsequently led the manhunt for McLeod, who they believed fled through Mexico to Central America. He was reported to have been in Guatemala in 2017 and Belize in 2018.

A $50,000 reward was offered for information leading to his capture, and he was added to the 15 Most Wanted list.

“It is our sincere hope that his capture brings some sense of relief to Krystal Mitchell’s family, especially her mother, Josephine Wentzel, who has worked so diligently with law enforcement these past years to see this day of justice arrive,” U.S. Marshals Director Ronald Davis said in the statement.