U.S. MARSHALS RETRIEVE 2003 DOUBLE HOMICIDE SUSPECT FROM ARGENTINA

FROM:  U.S. MARSHALS SERVICE
2003 Double Homicide Suspect Who Fled to Argentina 
Extradited Back to Miami by U.S. Marshals
Miami, FL – Hugo Ramon Quesada, a man wanted on homicide charges by the Miami Dade Police Department arrived back in the U.S. today after being extradited from Argentina.

Deputy U.S. Marshals flew to Argentina earlier this week and took custody of Quesada and returned him to Miami today at 6:10 a.m. Quesada was turned over to the custody of the Miami Dade Police Department upon arrival at the Miami International Airport. In August 2003, an arrest warrant was issued by the Miami Dade Police Department that charges Quesada with two counts of first degree murder, and one count of attempted murder.

On Sunday, Aug. 10, 2003, Quesada went to the home of his wife, Martiza Quesada in Miami and allegedly murdered her. Quesada is alleged to have also killed his wife’s stepfather Emilio Xiques at the same residence and placed his body in a tool shed in the yard. According to police reports, Quesada then drove to his wife’s mother’s home in the Little Havana neighborhood of Miami and told her he had just killed her daughter and her husband. Quesada is accused of then stabbing his wife’s mother in the back and fleeing the residence, leaving her for dead. Quesada’s mother-in-law was critically wounded but survived the attack and was able to provide police with the identity of her attacker. Quesada fled the crime scene in a white vehicle rented by Maritza Quesada and was never seen again.

Miami Dade Police homicide detectives named Quesada as a suspect, but soon realized that Quesada fled the United States and returned to his home country of Argentina. On Aug. 19, 2003, Miami Dade police detectives requested the assistance of the U.S. Marshals to track down Quesada in Argentina in hopes of returning the suspect back to Miami to face criminal charges. During the next three years, Deputy U.S. Marshals and ICE/HSI agents assigned to the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force began interviewing numerous family members and associates of Quesada in Miami to determine where the fugitive was hiding in Argentina.

Hard work and determination finally paid off when Deputy Marshals and ICE/HSI agents in Miami developed information in July 2006 on a location where Quesada was hiding out in Argentina. Deputy Marshals and HSI agents forwarded this information to Interpol Inspectors in Argentina. Deputy Marshals also requested the State Attorney’s Office in Miami to pursue a Provisional Arrest Warrant through the Department of Justice/Office of International Affairs in Washington, D.C.

On Nov. 2, 2006, Quesada was arrested by the Federal Police of Argentina (Interpol) in Buenos Aires, Argentina on the outstanding Provisional Arrest Warrant from the United States. At the time of his arrest, Quesada was utilizing the identity of his brother-in-law in an attempt to avoid capture. Quesada began fighting the extradition process to avoid being returned to the South Florida to face homicide charges.

On Aug. 21, the Supreme Court of Buenos Aires in Argentina approved the extradition of Quesada to be returned back to the United States. On Oct. 24, the Government of Argentina formally approved the extradition. Quesada arrived this morning escorted by U.S. Marshals and was turned over to Miami Dade Police homicide detectives.

This arrest and successful extradition has been the result of the combined efforts of: the Miami Dade Police Department, the Miami Dade State Attorney’s Office, agents with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security/ ICE Homeland Security Investigations, the Federal Police of Argentina assigned to Interpol, Department of Justice Office of International Affairs and the U.S. Marshals Service.