Milwaukee man, one of FBI’s 10 most wanted fugitives, arrested in Mexico after 16 years on the run
A Milwaukee man who was on FBI’s “Ten Most Wanted Fugitives” list was arrested Thursday in Mexico, authorities said.
Octaviano Juarez-Corro, who had been on the run for 16 years, was wanted for double homicides and multiple attempted homicides in Milwaukee.
Juarez-Corro is believed to have fatally shot two people and wounded three others — including his estranged wife — at a large holiday picnic on May 29, 2006. He was added to the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list on September 8, 2021.
FBI Milwaukee, in conjunction with the FBI’s International Operations Division, and Mexican authorities successfully located and apprehended the suspect in Guadalajara, Mexico on the evening of Feb. 3.
“Octaviano Juarez-Corro spent the last 16 years running from law enforcement, hiding in another country, and believing time and distance was on his side,” Special Agent in Charge Michael Hensle, of the FBI’s Milwaukee Field Office, said in a statement.
“The FBI has a long reach and extraordinary law enforcement partnerships across the globe. I commend the tireless efforts of all our partners from Milwaukee to Mexico in closely coordinating with the FBI in capturing this wanted fugitive and helping to bring this violent offender to justice, as well as closure to the victims and their families,” he added.
The suspect, who’s now 47, showed at the South Shore Park, on the banks of Lake Michigan, where hundreds of people were celebrating the Memorial Day holiday, and struck a conversation with some of his soon-to-be-ex wife’s friends, authorities said.
The two, who share a daughter, were reported to be in the final stages of their divorce.
He reportedly demanded to see their daughter, who was 3 years old at the time. After he was told that he wouldn’t be able to see the child, he demanded five people to get down on their knees and began shooting them “execution-style,” the bureau said.
“All of a sudden within this split second, it turns into a massive shooting scenario, where five people are ultimately struck,” Special Agent Steve Whitecotton, with FBI’s Milwaukee Field Office, said.
His wife suffered two gunshot wounds in the chest but survived. Two others were also injured, one of them gravely.
He was charged in Milwaukee County Circuit Court with two counts of first-degree intentional homicide and three counts of attempted first-degree intentional homicide, along with unlawful flight to avoid prosecution.
Juarez-Corro was the 525th person to be placed on the FBI’s “Ten Most Wanted Fugitives” list, which was first established in 1950.
