Murder victim’s mother, a former police detective, reacts to fugitive Marine’s arrest after working 6 years to find him: “I got him!”

A tip together with the perseverance of the mom of a girl killed in San Diego in 2016 led to the arrest of her boyfriend, a U.S. Marine veteran who fled to El Salvador and was educating English there, prosecutors stated Friday on the arraignment of Raymond McLeod.

McLeod, 37, who was on the U.S. Marshals’ 15 Most Wanted list, pleaded not guilty to a homicide cost in San Diego Superior Court. He is accused of strangling his girlfriend, Krystal Mitchell, 30, a mom of two.

Mitchell’s mom, Josephine Wentzel, a former police detective who had been serving to within the hunt for McLeod, had labored tirelessly for years to deliver justice for her daughter and her two grandchildren, who had been simply 5 and 6 years outdated when their mom was killed.

“Yes! I got him! And he’s not going to get away again,” said Wentzel, who flew into San Diego from Washington for his arraignment.

“He’s never going to be released from that jail if I can have something to do with that. I’m glad this day came,” she added. “After six years, I wasn’t too sure. I’m glad it’s here now.”

On June 10, 2016, a pal discovered Mitchell not respiratory and paramedics pronounced her useless. Homicide detectives discovered indicators of a wrestle.

Wentzel, a Vancouver, Washington resident who used to examine robberies, thefts, and typically murders for the Guam Police Department, stated she started her personal inquiries into her daughter’s demise about six months after her killing when she did not see sufficient progress within the police investigation.

Wentzel began a web site devoted to discovering McLeod, posted wished fliers on social media channels in Mexico and Central America and had reached out to hostels and newspapers in these areas. Wentzel diligently pursued information about McLeod’s whereabouts.

“She was a driving force in this arrest,” Deputy Marshal Joseph O’Callaghan stated.

According to courtroom paperwork, the night time earlier than Mitchell’s demise, the couple went to a bar the place a individual noticed McLeod slap Mitchell within the face. When the individual tried to intervene, they got into a struggle with McLeod and the couple was kicked out of the bar, the newspaper reported.

Surveillance video confirmed McLeod grabbing Mitchell by her neck and shoving her into an elevator after they returned late to the condo, the newspaper reported. The subsequent day after McLeod had left the condo, their pal discovered Mitchell’s physique within the visitor room.

Investigators stated he had rented a automobile, purchased Mexican insurance coverage for it, and fled the nation alone, in accordance to courtroom paperwork.

McLeod was captured after the U.S. Marshals Service obtained a tip that he was educating English within the metropolis of Sonsonate.

(*6*) stated San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan at a news convention held after the Friday morning arraignment.

The individual will obtain some or all of a $50,000 reward the service had provided for information main to McLeod’s arrest.

Josue Castro told KFMB-TV that McLeod was his English trainer in El Salvador from 2017 to 2019.

“I remember he told me he’s from Canada. Also, his name was Jack. Just Jack. He doesn’t give me the last name,” stated Castro.

The pupil took pictures of McLeod educating the English class and interacting with college students on the college referred to as Direct English in Sonsonate, El Salvador.

Castro had no thought his trainer was a fugitive, wished for homicide.

“I am shocked because that was my teacher of English. Also, he was very friendly with me,” stated Castro, throughout a Zoom interview from his present dwelling in Los Angeles.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.