Man accused of killing pregnant wife in El Monte and fleeing to Mexico is extradited

A man who authorities say shot and killed his pregnant wife has been extradited from Mexico to Los Angeles County after fleeing the country more than a year ago, law enforcement officials said Wednesday.

According to officials with the FBI and the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department, Octavio Curiel-Martinez killed his pregnant wife, Ana Maria Nunez, and her fetus during a domestic violence attack in El Monte in August 2018.

Curiel-Martinez and Nunez, 37, had other children who were not present when their mother was slain, investigators said. He was seen leaving the home where his wife’s body was found after the fatal shooting, and a manhunt had been underway since. The FBI had included Curiel-Martinez on its Most Wanted list for the past year and offered a reward of up to $10,000 for information on his whereabouts.

He was charged with multiple felonies, including two counts of murder and two counts of felony child endangerment. After a state warrant was issued for his arrest on Sept. 5, 2018, authorities said, Curiel-Martinez, described as a Mexican national, fled from California to his home country.

A federal warrant for his arrest was issued on March 15.

The 37-year-old was found two months later in Bolanos in Mexico’s Jalisco state, where he was arrested by Mexican police on May 17, 2019. The Mexican government issued a provisional arrest warrant one week later, on May 23, after the L.A. County district attorney’s office requested his extradition.

Curiel-Martinez was returned to the U.S. and booked into custody Jan. 3. Jail records show he is being held without bail and is due in court Feb. 19.