DURHAM (WRAL) — A North Carolina man who was accused of killing a man at Fort Bragg in 2005 was extradited to North Carolina on Thursday after his arrest in Mexico.
Claudio Gutierrez-Cruz, 48, was arrested in Hidalgo, Mexico, on April 23 and was detained in Mexico City until he was taken into custody by the Charlotte Division of the FBI on Thursday.
Gutierrez-Cruz was wanted in connection with the death of Francisco Lopez-Bautista, 44, at Fort Bragg in June 2005.
According to Gutierrez-Cruz’s wife, who spoke to WRAL News in 2005, her husband spotted some men trying to steal pine straw on Fort Bragg that he had the right to rake and sell. According to his family, he fired two shots into the air, and the bullets struck Lopez-Bautista when they came down.
Gutierrez-Cruz was charged with murder and was being held at the Durham County Detention Center on Thursday afternoon.