Tempe police and officials with the U.S. Marshals Service on Friday arrested a 32-year-old man in connection with a fatal stabbing that occurred in 2008, authorities said.
Juan Vergara Ortiz was arrested on charges of first-degree murder and armed robbery in the death of David Lopez, 20.
On Dec. 27, 2008, Tempe officers responded to an apartment complex at 801 E. McKellips Drive after Lopez showed up at the doorstep of a neighbor asking them to call 911. He had been stabbed and died later that day.
Authorities investigated the case, but it went cold until a Tempe detective reopened it in 2014. Using DNA evidence, Ortiz, who had fled the country, was linked to the stabbing, according to a police department release.
“The U.S. Marshals Service and Tempe Police Department worked relentlessly on this case and successfully located and extradited this fugitive from justice from the country of Mexico,” U.S. Marshal Van Bayless said.
Tempe Police Chief Ken McCoy added: “We hope this arrest helps ease the pain for the family of the victim of this violent crime.”