Suspect in 2002 murder back in Lake County
A man police say murdered his wife more than six years ago and then fled to Mexico was ordered held without bond Wednesday in Lake County Circuit Court.
Ruben Contreras, 46, faces up to 60 years in prison if convicted of the May 26, 2002 murder of Graciela Guijarro, 34.
Lake County Assistant State's Attorney Louise Hayes said the FBI and U.S. Department of Justice located Contreras in Cuarnavaca, Mexico, about three months ago and he was arrested.
Negotiations between the United States and Mexico resulted in Contreras' extradition, she said, and he arrived at O'Hare International Airport late Tuesday.
Contreras was the stable master at Day Break Farms, a subdivision bordered by the Des Plaines River and Lake County Forest Preserve property near Waukegan, and was living apart from his wife and their 2-year-old son in 2002.
Hayes said Contreras and Guijarro were seen walking together on Day Break Farms property the day she died, just a few days before her family reported her missing.
On June 2, Contreras boarded a bus in Waukegan that took him to Laredo, Texas, where police said he crossed the border into Mexico.
Guijarro's badly-decomposing body was found in an embankment about 900 yards from the cottage where Contreras was living June 6, and an autopsy determined she had been asphyxiated.
In a confession, Contreras gave detectives of the Lake County Major Crimes Task Force on Tuesday night, he said he and his wife argued about her lack of respect for him, Hayes said.
When she began shouting, Contreras told police he placed his hand over her mouth and nose and held it there until her body went limp.
He carried her down to the embankment, removed her clothing and returned to his cottage, Hayes said.
On Jan. 31, 2002, Contreras was charged with assault and disorderly conduct for kicking and pounding on the door to his wife's apartment when she refused to let him in.
In an application for an order of protection issued the following day, Guijarro wrote that Contreras threatened her frequently.
"He said he was going to kill me and throw me in the river," she wrote. "I fear he may be insane."
She also wrote Contreras had told her she "could not leave him because he had brought me here and could do what he pleased."
Even if he killed her, Guijarro wrote of Contreras, he promised her "no one will do anything about it because no one cares about Mexicans."
Deputy State's Attorney Jeff Pavletic said Contreras should have checked with people at the FBI and Justice Department before making that assumption.
"I have personally been in contact with people from both agencies over the years in connection with this case," Pavletic said. "I know how tirelessly they worked to bring this man to justice."
Associate Judge Raymond Collins appointed the county's public defender's office to represent Contreras. He ordered Contreras to appear in court Jan. 7.