Man Who Fled on Final Day of Trial Found 10 Years Later

Murderer has been returned to Texas
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Nov 19, 2018 12:35 AM CST

A man who disappeared on the last day of his 2008 murder trial has been captured in Mexico and returned to Texas, authorities say. Hidalgo County prosecutors said in a news release that 35-year-old Oscar Davila Rodriguez was returned to the US last week. The statement didn't include details about how or where he was captured. "The tireless work of dedicated law enforcement on both sides of the border ensured that justice was served," the district attorney said. Rodriguez was free on $100,000 bond during his murder trial in the 2005 killing of his 19-year-old ex-girlfriend, Nydia Maldonado, the AP reports. Authorities say he broke into her home in McAllen, stabbed her multiple times and strangled her.

Though Rodriguez failed to appear for the last day of his trial, he was convicted of murder and sentenced to 40 years in prison. The trial was in Edinburg, which is about 15 miles from the Texas-Mexico border. "Justice will finally be served and will give peace to Nydia and all those who loved her," Assistant DA Michelle Puig, who served as lead prosecutor on the case. The 2008 trial was the second time Rodriguez was found guilty of killing Maldonado. Rodriguez was convicted in 2007 and sentenced to 55 years in prison. He remained free when a judge threw out that murder conviction because a witness mentioned a polygraph test that was supposed to have been barred from evidence. (Last month, a supposedly dead Ukrainian fugitive was found living in a French castle.)

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