After nearly three decades, a homicide cold case has led investigators from Miami-Dade to the streets of Peru, resulting in the arrest of a man long sought for a fatal shooting from 1996. The suspect, Christian Miguel Orosco, was apprehended by the Peruvian National Police on tips that revealed his true identity hidden behind the name Eduardo Enrique Albarracin Trillo. Miami-Dade County announced the collaboration with federal and international authorities that culminated in Orosco’s capture.
On the night of November 28, 1996, Miami officers were called to a gas station on NW 79 Street where they found the victim, James Schwarz, gravely wounded from multiple gunshot wounds after a confrontation with Orosco. Despite being airlifted to a trauma center, Schwarz succumbed to his injuries. Orosco was quickly identified, but managed to evade the law and start anew in Peru. It was a tip to the Peruvian National Police that set to finally unravel his life undercover. Investigators were able to positively confirm Orosco’s identity through fingerprint identification, aligning the man working as an air traffic controller with the fugitive wanted for second-degree murder.
Orosco, who was 18 at the time of the homicide, has been working for the Peruvian government under his assumed name and has been taken into custody without incident. The effort to hold him accountable has spanned international borders, involving the tireless work of the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office Homicide Bureau, Cold Case Squad, and partners such as the FBI and the Department of Justice, as detailed by the county’s press release…