Chula Vista man accused of killing wife and fled to Mexico, back in US – NBC 7 San Diego

A man suspected of stabbing his wife to death in front of their young children in their Chula Vista home four years ago and then fleeing to Mexico was behind bars Tuesday after being arrested last spring and sent to the was extradited to the United States.

Mexican authorities transferred 41-year-old Francisco Caldera Uriarte to the custody of U.S. law enforcement in San Diego last week, according to Chula Vista police. He was arrested south of the border in May.

Uriarte had been at large since March 29, 2020, when he allegedly killed his 35-year-old wife, Natalia, during a fight at their apartment in the 500 block of Oxford Street, about a mile and a half west of Castle Park High School.

At that time, Chula Vista police said officers received a call around 1:38 a.m. from a neighbor who claimed he heard a woman screaming. When officers arrived at the apartment complex, they found three children – 9-year-old twins and a 3-year-old – who said their mother and father had been involved in a physical altercation, Chula Vista police said.

Patrol officers found Natalia Uriarte, a makeup artist, dead and her husband dead.

The children, who were not injured, told officers that their father fled the scene and they believed he killed their mother during the fight, CVPD said.

The day after the murder, Chula Vista police released a picture of Uriarte, who they believed killed his wife, and was considered armed and dangerous.

Uriarte was booked into San Diego Central Jail on Thursday on suspicion of murder and child endangerment. He was held without bail pending an arraignment scheduled for Wednesday.