Addison murder suspect extradited from Mexico
He fought extradition from Mexico for almost a year, but this week a man charged with a 1981 road-rage murder in Addison is in DuPage County jail.
And the family of victim John Spoors is breathing a sigh of relief.
"We were getting really worried that it was never going to happen," said Spoors' brother, Robert Spoors.
Jesus Rodriguez, 50, eluded authorities for almost 30 years, but was arrested Jan. 8 in Santa Gertrudis, Zacatecas, Mexico, on a long-outstanding warrant alleging he killed John Spoors on Aug. 26, 1981.
Since then he fought extradition to Illinois. But on Tuesday he arrived at O'Hare International Airport with FBI agents and was transferred to the custody of Addison police.
He appeared in court Thursday where he was denied bond.
Robert Spoors said Addison detectives traveled to his Bourbonnais home to deliver the news to him and his mother, Eleanor.
"We're just really pleased," Robert Spoors said. "There's some light at the end of the tunnel and it's going to make this a really good Christmas. There are pictures all over my house of my brother, so it doesn't go too long where you can forget what's happened."
John Spoors was the oldest of six in a close-knit Irish-Italian Catholic family. The 23-year-old carpenter grew up in Addison, wrestled for Addison Trail High School and was engaged to be married.
He was gunned down in the parking lot of a local pancake house at 607 W. Lake St., where he met his boss each morning before work.
The shooting followed a traffic dispute minutes earlier in which police said Rodriguez, then 23, followed Spoors into the parking lot and opened fire.
Detectives said witness interviews led them to the defendant. Police found his Grand Prix within an hour, but they soon had reason to believe he fled the country.
They obtained an arrest warrant, but the trail quickly went cold.
As the years passed, detectives occasionally worked new leads that didn't pan out. Still, they kept looking.
Police said they developed new information in February 2006 about Rodriguez's whereabouts in Mexico, where he had been arrested on drunk and disorderly conduct charges. They began working with the FBI and Mexican officials for his capture and return to Illinois.
But the defendant, who also uses the last name Villarreal, fought extradition.
The Spoors family said the past year has been an emotional roller coaster. While they were elated with the news of Rodriguez's arrest last January, they feared he might skirt extradition forever.
To help keep their spirits up, the family organized a memorial last April 8, on what would have been John Spoors 50th birthday. More than 100 friends and family attended a Catholic Mass and dinner in Addison to honor him, with guests coming from all over the country.
Robert Spoors said he's thankful for their support through the years and now he's thrilled to have good news to share.
"Even if we don't see someone for 10 years, John is the first thing they bring up," Robert Spoors said. "We thank them for keeping John in their hearts and now we will be able to give information when people ask."