Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Alleged Steroid-Popping ex-Marine Wanted for Young Mom's Murder Captured Abroad

Episode Date: September 9, 2022

Raymond "RJ" McLeod, Jr. is arrested in El Salvador on murder charges. The ex-Marine had been on the run for six years after the brutal death of 30-year-old Krystal Mitchell. The young mom was found beaten and strangled in a San Diego condominium in June 2016. The pair had been dating just a few weeks when they took a vacation trip.  By the time police arrived at the apartment when Mitchell and McLeod were staying with his friends, McLeod had fled in Krystal’s car, which was found at the San Diego airport.  McLeod then rented a car at the airport and drove into Mexico. From there he traveled to Belize, and on into El Salvador. McLeod was reportedly working as a teacher.   Joining Nancy Grace Today: Josephine Wentzel - Victim's Mother, Founder, "Angels of Justice", Author: "THE CHASE: In Hot Pursuit of My Daughter’s Killer", AngelsofJustice.org, Victim Advocate: The Cold Case Foundation, Twitter: @ANGELSOFJUSTIC2, Matthew Mangino - Attorney, Former District Attorney (Lawrence County), Former Parole Board Member, Author: "The Executioner's Toll: The Crimes, Arrests, Trials, Appeals, Last Meals, Final Words and Executions of 46 Persons in the United States", MattMangino.com, Twitter: @MatthewTMangino   Dr. Michael Bourke - Clinical and Forensic Psychologist, Former Chief of the United States Marshals Service’s Behavioral Analysis Unit, MichaelBourkePHD.com Frankie Sanchez - Regional Chief of US Marshal Task Force, Los Angeles Dr. Kendall Crowns – Chief Medical Examiner Tarrant County (Ft Worth), Lecturer: University of Texas Austin and Texas Christian University Medical School Dave Mack - Crime Online Investigative Reporter See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Got him. I'm talking about a guy that does not deserve to be called a U.S. Marine, but he insists on saying that. None other than R.J. McLeod, a killer who has dragged law enforcement halfway around the world to find him. I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us here at Fox Nation and Sirius XM 111. But more important than that POC, technical legal term, RJ McLeod is someone else. Her name, Crystal Mitchell. Take a listen to this. Crystal was a visitor in San Diego. She loved San Diego, and she came here frequently from Phoenix.

And her last word about San Diego was, Mom, I'm going to move there. She didn't know she was going to be killed here. And so I have so many memories of her coming to San Diego. I have a lot of things hanging in my house and cups and stuff because she loved San Diego. She was a lovely mother. She was beautiful inside out. She was beautiful.

And she was a single mom, unsuspecting of this man. She was a property manager, and this man came by to get an apartment, and that's how they met. He came across as a doting dad. And that's one thing she said was he loves his son. He absolutely loves his son. And that was a quality that every single mom out there will look for is a man who loves his child. You're hearing the voice mother and hero, Josephine Wetzel, who has dedicated the last years she's been alive on this earth to finding her daughter Crystal's killer, R.J. McKay. Now just think about that for a moment. What if you were tasked with finding a killer well where do you start what do you do and a killer who has traveled around the world and knows how to elude

police I'm Nancy Grace this is crime stories thank you for being with us here at Fox Nation and Sirius XM 111 RJ Mcod, a man we have all searched for. He's been at the top of the FBI most wanted, a cold-blooded killer, but it took one of his victims' mother to bring him to justice, and this is the story of R.J. McLeod going down thanks to Crystal's mother, Josephine, and what a story it is. I want you to take a listen now to our friends at KUSI. Around 1 p.m. on June 10, 2016, when San Diego Police Department receives a 911 call,

they arrive to the apartment to find the lifeless body of Crystal Mitchell. The coroner determines that she died by strangulation and that this was a homicide. This strangulation was so violent that there were three separate fractures to her voice box. A 911 call brought police to an apartment in Allied Garden, San Diego, where Crystal's body was found. There were clear signs of a struggle, and Crystal had numerous injuries. There was blunt force trauma, including to her face and torso. McLeod had brutally strangled Crystal to death, choking the very life out of her.

There were multiple fractures to her neck area. Joining me, a renowned chief medical examiner, Dr. Kendall Crowns, the chief medical examiner of Tarrant County. That's Fort Worth. He is also a lecturer at University of Texas, Austin and Texas Christian University Med School. Dr. Crowns, thank you for being with us. What does that tell you? The COD cause of death is manual strangulation versus, for instance, ligature strangulation or asphyxiation of some other type. But three separate fractures to Crystal's voice box, number one. What is a voice box? I'm sure that's not the medical term.

So the voice box is the area where your vocal cords will sit. It's made up by your thyroid cartilage. And thyroid cartilage is like this kind of large shield of a cartilaginous structure that sits over the vocal cord region. And what I'm hearing with that is because she is a young woman, usually the thyroid cartilage hasn't become bony yet or ossified. so it's very pliable in a young woman and it usually doesn't fracture in a annual strangulation so to me that sounds like an incredible amount of force is being put on her neck by the perpetrator's hand so he's obviously got a very good grip strength and he put a lot of force into that to cause that much damage.

Interesting to Dr. Michael Bork, the clinical forensic psychologist, former chief of the U.S. Marshal Service Behavioral Analysis Unit. You can find him at MichaelBorkPhD.com. Dr. Bork, thank you for being with us. you about RJ McLeod that he not only strangled her, but strangled her so forcefully and so violently to cause three fractures in Crystal's voice box. Well, Nancy, you know, some of these perpetrators are going to cause that much damage because they're out of control or because this is sort of a heat of passion kind of a thing. In McLeod's case, this is a very cold and calculating man. He's had the discipline instilled from the U.S. Marine Corps.

He knows what he's doing, and he's committed acts of violence against vulnerable people in his past. So this man is committing this type of damage and this extent of this damage because he enjoys it. McLeod is a sadist. He is somewhat psychopathic. He doesn't have a great degree of empathy for other people. And he enjoyed the power and the rush that he got from hurting other people. You know, I've heard about people like that. I think I've encountered defendants like that, that enjoy the act of inflicting pain on others, as you said, sadist, so much that they do it over and over again. And that is exactly what R.J. McLeod did.

This was by far not his first female victim. He preyed on people that were weaker and less cunning than himself over and over and over, culminating in the murder of Crystal. But when you say Dr. Roark out of control, I'm not so sure that I think he was out of control as much as enjoying the sensation of strangling her dead, seeing her life leave her body. Because I believe that there was another couple possibly in the apartment where they were at the time. And they didn't hear a thing. Guys, take a listen to our cut, too. This is Ginger Jeffries, KUSI.

We believe that they came into San Diego that night. They had spent some time socializing and catching up with RJ's friends. Then after the host had gone to bed, they went out to a local bar, had a couple more drinks to enjoy their stay in San Diego. When they returned back to the condominium, we believe shortly after that, there was some kind of altercation between Crystal and RJ, and that's when they killed her. And more. When we got into the scene, Crystal's body was found on the bed in the guest room at a condominium where they've been staying with some friends of RJ's. There was some blood in the scene and some items of furniture that had been moved around.

It was pretty obvious there was some kind of struggle in the room. McLeod then took Crystal's car to the San Diego airport, rented a different car, and drove into Mexico. Officials issued a warrant for his arrest, the charge, murder. Oh, yeah. This guy, there's no way he's going to be able to claim involuntary intoxication. Let me remind everyone, and isn't this true, James Shelnut, 27 years Metro Major case as a detective, former SWAT, now a lawyer at the shell nut law firm voluntary use

of drugs or alcohol is never a defense under the law unless you're comatose if you're comatose you can't strangle anybody but the fact that he may have been somewhat intoxicated or at least under the influence that's not going to help him at all no it's not going to help him at all. No, it's not going to help him at all. You can't just go get yourself drunk and then have a free pass to attack people, to murder people, to do whatever you want to do. It's not legally a defense and it's not

going to fly in front of a jury. Oh, no. No way. In fact, it makes me dislike him even more if that can even be imagined. So he's out drunk acting the fool and he's got this gorgeous young date with him and I don't quite understand how a night out turns deadly I don't know how that flip but when you're R.J. McCloud it doesn't take much to flick your switch. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace.

Guys, immediately, this guy goes on the run, which will belie any claim of mental defect, temporary insanity, deluded under intoxication. No, listen, listen to how well thought out his escape plan was. He goes on the run. Take a listen to Ginger Jeffries. Described as 5'11", weighing 225 to 245 pounds, Raymond McLeod, a former Marine, was dating Crystal Mitchell. On June 10, 2016, San Diego police found the victim not breathing at an apartment complex in Allied Gardens. She was pronounced dead at the scene by medics. He's believed to be on the run in Central America or Mexico.

His last reported location was in Guatemala about a year ago, but he has also been spotted in belize and in mexico mcleod has been able to hide until now but we're not going to let this coward run from justice and get away with murder make no mistake we are on a hunt for justice and we need your help now apparently this guy was a wolf in sheep's clothing. Although, I always thought he looked like he was jacked up on steroids. That said, there's no way Crystal could have known what she was dealing with. Take a listen to Ginger Jeffries. When the crime happened, McLeod was still married to his third wife. However, the couple was estranged after a domestic violence incident in Riverside County in April of 2016. That's just two months before the murder.

McLeod was on bond when he moved to Scottsdale and met Crystal. They had only been dating a matter of weeks weeks and her mom tells me her friends did not approve her friend didn't like him at all when she met him mcleod had prior violence against two of his previous wives he had a pending 2016 felony case in riverside for strangling one of his wives. A roommate interrupted the woman being strangled. That set the scene for what would be a deadly trip to San Diego, California. You know, I don't get it how the prosecutor can say that with a straight face because he should have been prosecuted for strangling the last wife. But no, nothing happened. And he's out walking free and bam, he runs into Crystal totally unsuspecting. Joining me right now is a special guest, the woman along with the U.S. Marshal Service,

who's also joining us, the woman who has led the crusade to find killer R.J. McLeod, no matter where it took her, no matter how long and how hard she had to look, no matter how many times she had to go on air and beg for help, no matter what she had to do, she never quit. With us is Crystal's mother, Josephine Wentzel. Josephine, thank you for being with us. Thank you for bringing me back at such a special occasion. It was kind of hard listening to all the details again.

It just brings a lot of anger and makes it even more of a celebratory thing that I've done, catching him and getting him off the street and putting him in prison so he doesn't hurt somebody else. I'd like to see him try to do that to somebody in prison. You know, every picture, Josephine, that I've ever seen of him, he looks like a poser. You know, I think of my husband or my father as being the perfect man. Unassuming, smart, active, physical, in great shape, but not a show-off. This guy, every time I see him, he's got a gym behind him. He's got on a torn out tank top, bulging his arm muscles with like a fake tan, with a cigar, or with a gun. Somehow propping up his toxic masculinity. It's like he has so much to prove.

I don't get it. But what did she think about him? How did someone like Crystal get tangled up with this POC? Other men. She came out of a relationship and she's been out of a relationship for about five months. And the guy was pursuing her. And, you know, here comes this big Marine and, you know, Crystal's sister was a Marine. And so I don't know that I would call him big. It's hopped up on steroids. Those muscles aren't real. No way.

Well, big. What is that? Hold on. What about that? Dr. Kendall Crowns. Have you seen this guy. Well, big. What is that? Well, hold on. What about that, Dr. Kendall Crowns? Have you seen this guy? I mean, this guy is what, what, 5'7", maybe? And he is just about 5'7", wide across the chest with all of his fake muscles.

Fake muscles, fake tan, fake cover story, fake everything. He was even still married when he met crystal what does steroids do to you and i am not going down the garden path the rabbit hole of steroids made me do it uh-uh that ain't happening that's the same thing as drugs and alcohol you take steroids you go crazy and kill somebody that's on you the steroids didn't do it but what how does that work dr kendall crowns how does he get all his fake muscles well the steroids didn't do it but what how does that work dr kendall crowns how does he get all his fake muscles well the steroids help you put on muscle mass so he gets bigger muscles quicker from using a steroid because of the effect the steroids have on

muscles in his neck he looks like an ox like i'm about to put a plow on him how does it work how does that work crowns uh like i said that it increases your ability to put on muscle mass the exact effects the steroids have on the musculature i can't really tell you right off hand but i know it accentuates the ability to put on muscle so the more he lifts the more the quicker he's going to put it on unlike a person who's not using steroids where it can take years to develop muscle mass he can do it in a matter of months but on the downside he's also getting liver injury and his testicles are shrinking and he's also going to have massive Okay, wait a minute right there. I do not care about his liver damage, but that said,

you know, Josephine Wentzel, you're Crystal's mother. Did you ever see this guy before she started going out with him? Never. Because I'm telling you, if I caught my husband David Lynch in the gym this much, I'd say, uh-uh, no. You got that much time for a gym? To be in a

gym three, four hours a day? You go to work. You can go work, make some money for the children's college fund. Why is a grown man in the gym five, six, seven hours a day to where he looks like that? If he has that much time on his hand, he can be cutting your grass. He does not need to be in there building up his neck muscles okay so you didn't see him before she started dating him josephine i did not this was not a you know nancy this i mean everybody's reporting boyfriend and girlfriend it was dating they were dating it wasn't an intimate boyfriend and girlfriend she hardly knew him she was the apartment complex manager He went there to apply for a lease on an apartment while he's out on bond for trying to kill his estranged wife. Josephine, I don't think

that any of the men on our panel are going to understand this. Sorry, man. I know you claim to be just as smart as women. Josephine, have you seen this picture of him with a cigar? I've seen a picture of him. Yes, I have. And those are the pictures I have gotten. He's got a gun in his left hand and he's having like a big fat Cuban cigar. It's like maybe a Romeo and Julieta. It's just, I want to just tear his little head off. What is it about that picture that's so irritating? The arrogance. Yeah, that's it. You said it all in one word. You also said how he managed to woo Crystal with her having no idea who he really is.

She was an apartment complex manager, correct? Yes, that's correct. And he put in an application to live there, right? Yes, he did. And nowhere on the application did it say, I'm on my third marriage, and oh yeah, I just strangled her a couple of weeks ago. Why? How could that not pop up on Crystal's radar since she was the one looking at the applications? Because apartment complexes only look for felons, for somebody that's been tried as a felon.

Convicted. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Not showing anything about arrest. What about that, Shellnut? 27 years Metro Major case detective. Arrests don't show up. There's got to be a conviction. Oh, yeah, I wouldn't want to hurt R.J. McCloud's feelings by, what, a wrongful arrest showing up on his rap sheet. And now Crystal's dead. You think she would have gone out with him if she had seen domestic assault arrest on that? No, this little punk right here is lucky that he's even walking the streets. He should have been convicted, he should have been

put in prison, and he should have been serving time for strangling and nearly killing this other lady. It's just insanity that this guy's still on the streets. No offense to anybody on the panel with multiple marriages. I'm not knocking it. I'm not the church lady. I really don't care. But

first marriage, you think, okay, that was a starter marriage. Second marriage is still up in the air. You don't really know what happened. How do I know that you didn't get married young and you didn't realize what you were doing? But when you, it makes me think of Drew Peterson. When you're getting on your fourth, fifth, sixth wife, except Elizabeth Taylor, God rest her soul, because none of that was her fault. When you start getting on, it starts to be you're the only common denominator in all that. So it's your fault.

These women were not connecting the dots of all of his relationships, of all of his domestic assaults. In fact, he was quite the con man, a smooth operator. They had no reason to suspect him. Take a listen to our friend Josephine Wentzel in our Cut 9. Everything was right about him. He was stable. He was a U.S. Marine. Crystal's sister is a U.S. Marine. There was nothing to alert her that he was a terrible person. And so when she came out here, and I remember that night when I got that phone call. I mean, this is, you know, I've been on the side where I had to give the message to parents. Sometimes I didn't want to give the message that their child has been murdered, and I'm on this side, and I received that message that night. Josephine, Crystal's mother, who never

gave up. She was like a hound from hell on this guy, about three inches up his tailpipe at all times, trying to bring her daughter's killer to justice. Josephine, we have talked about this once before, but for those just joining us, what happened when you realized something had gone horribly wrong with Crystal? I tried to reach her. She wasn't responding to me. I knew in my gut something was wrong with her because that wasn't her to just ignore me, especially because I had her children. So my husband had texted her and said, you have to call your mother right now. And I found out later from Detective Dobbs that when they had found her, her phone was there and it kept going off and they kept seeing her parents.

And so he said you know at some point he says let's get a hold of the parents right away they're trying to reach her and they're panicking and then you got the call yes i got the call what happened detective dobbs had called and said that she was in a mark and um i don't remember all the details. I just remember covering my ears and dropping to the floor and just having my heart ripped out. My soul was stabbed so deep, and it was the most horrible feeling in the whole entire world. Most people cannot relate to the feeling

because, Nancy, it's a parent's worst nightmare. You don't go there. Nobody wants to go there. I had to go there. I had no choice. He put me there. He put my whole entire family there. He put my husband, Crystal's children there.

He put my son, my daughters. He really did a number on our family. Josephine, you stated that in the past it had been you making the call to parents. What did you mean by that? To tell them about their loved one being dead. Why you? When I was a police officer and I remember one case specifically where I went to a door and the mom collapsed and she started freaking out because she saw a police car and I lied to her and I said just go to the hospital just are they still alive just go to the hospital I didn't want to say I was just so afraid of the mom actually having a heart attack on me oh Josephine I gotta tell you by the time I got cases the family already knew that the son or the daughter or the mom or the dad

had been murdered. But even then, when I would go to talk to them to work up the case for trial, so I could understand every nuance of the victim and their family and their personality and what happened, I remember it like it was yesterday because it's so painful for them to talk about and relive and it could trigger nightmares and it all just comes right back when you have to talk about it sometimes. As a matter of fact, guys, I want you to hear what Josephine has said before. Listen. The children were staying with us on vacation when that happened. And that morning I woke up, and I knew there was something wrong. I felt there was something wrong, and I wasn't sure what it was. And when we reached out and tried to speak with her, she never responded.

And then it was that call that night. But I'm just appealing to the public. I mean, we have America's Best behind me. We have one of the greatest teams there is. But sometimes best is not good enough. Sometimes we just need more. And I'm appealing to the public. Help us bring peace.

As you see, it's the children that have to sleep at night. And I just want to bring peace. I know that finding him is not going to bring my daughter back. But it's gonna save the life of your daughter, your granddaughter, your mother. This shouldn't happen. There's so many victims to murder and it continues on. It doesn't end. This case may close, but what has happened to our family will never close. The pain of knowing he slipped through the fingers of law enforcement

and was somewhere in the world. Josephine had quit, had left her job after many years as police officer. She comes back and dedicates her life to bringing this guy in. And listen to this point that she makes. Listen. This man is brutal. I've done some background checks on him. He started out with so many domestic violence. Why domestic violence is a misdemeanor in Arizona? I don't know, but it is. And this was an awful thing that happened. If he was processed properly, probably he wouldn't be out there. Josephine, how does it strike you that because of a processing error, there was no warrant on him and he was free to meet Crystal and then murder her? Anger, total anger. And, you know, Nancy, I haven't addressed that issue yet.

Now that he's behind in bars, I intend to address that issue. Why are police officers, Nancy, here's a question. Why are police officers being prosecuted for murder in the line of duty? And yet these lawyers, these bondsmen, these judges get away with allowing these people to continue to murder. If they took at least a little bit of time to look into his background, just a little, they would have realized that he was not a good candidate to be released. Gun out on $5,000 cash because it's a $50,000 bond. Instead, he is out on the run. Take a listen to Summer Stephan, San Diego DA's office. McLeod is a former Marine who may have access to weapons. He's 34 years old,

5 foot 11 inches tall, and has multiple very recognizable tattoos on his arms and chest and body. He goes by the nicknames RJ, but may be using the name Matt or Mateo to attempt to hide his identity. It's very likely he's tried to change his appearance, grown a beard, he may have put on weight. Joining me right now, special guest Frankie Sanchez, Chief Inspector of U.S. Marshals Task Force out of L.A. Chief Inspector Sanchez, thank you for being with us.

So at the get-go, we hear word that he has been in Belize, that he is beyond Belize. I want you to take a listen, Frankie Sanchez, to our Cut 20. You know this guy, Steve German, U.S. Marshal Service. Our trail that we have followed him so far, we've confirmed that he left San Diego and went into Mexico. And then we've also confirmed that he was in Belize. That tip actually came in anonymously from a female who met him dancing at a nightclub, got kind of a creepy feeling about him, and probably saved her own life by not going with him. That is the type of monster that we're dealing with here. He will repeat this action if he hasn't already. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace.

How many times has a creepy feeling saved somebody's life? And it saved that woman the night she met R.J. McLeod in a bar. Back to Chief Inspector at the U.S. Marshals Task Force, Frankie Sanchez. Again, it's a real honor to have you on. Frankie, little known fact, my first investigator that I worked with very, very closely at the District Attorney's Office, Mack McPherson, went on to become the U.S. Marshal for the Northern District of Georgia. And I got to know a lot of the U.S. Marshal for the Northern District of Georgia. And I got to know a lot of the U.S. Marshals that way, Robert McMichaels. And I just have the most respect for you guys.

You know, when you are on the list of the U.S. Marshal, you're up the creek without a paddle. So what do you do? You get word that he's in Mexico, he's in Belize. How do you go about finding him? You know, Nancy, you can't let the border stop you. It's just, it's one of those things, one of those cases that you just chase it until you get to the end. Thank God we have good relationships with agencies in other countries. We're very fortunate our agency is to be able to have those partnerships with these outside agencies in other countries.

So where did the trail lead the U.S. Marshals? So initially, McLeod had fled into Mexico. How did he get to Mexico? Just drive across the border? Correct, yes. He drove across the border. How does that happen when he's got this huge string

of domestic violence and then he strangles somebody dead, his second strangulation victim? How do you just hop in your car and drive across the border and nobody checks? I couldn't tell you, Nancy. I couldn't tell you.

How do you think they do it? I mean, I think the Southbound traffic going into Mexico, I mean, obviously everybody is not ID'd going into Mexico. Coming into the United States everybody is not ID going into Mexico, you know, coming into the United States, obviously, it's different. Again, I'm not a Customs and Border Inspection officer, but I'm pretty sure that's how it works. So from Mexico, where do you think he went? So from Mexico, he went into Belize. That's when the marshals were, that's when the

marshals became involved in the case. It was sometime in December of 2016 when we were asked to assist in the location capture of Raymond McLeod. So you get in on the act after he has already left Mexico and he is in Belize. You know, there's not a lot of places you can hide in Belize. It's not that big. It's like a rock jutting out of the ocean. How can you hide in Belize? You know, that's a great question. I actually was down there physically working with DSS and local authorities running down some of the tips. And I was blown away with how small the country is.

So I don't know. He made his way into the expat areas. And at that time, you know, nobody knew who he was. Josephine, you know, once we had found out he was down there at that time, you know, nobody knew who he was. Josephine, you know, once we had found out he was down there at that point, that's when Josephine got on board and did these social media blasts that she had did with Facebook. And that's when the tips started to flow in. Way to go, Josephine. Tell me about your Facebook blasts. Well, I decided it was time for me to get involved, and I went online.

I tried to figure out how I could get the word out because you can be on the top 15 top 10 top one number one wanted in the world but if nobody knows it's useless so I realized I needed to put his face out there now that you know he became top 15 it was my work to get the word out and boy did you get the word out and back to Belize I mean Frankie the only thing I can remember I've dived all before I had the twins all over all over the world and Belize was just a spot to dive and there wasn't a whole lot else in Belize I remember there were goats walking up the street and when I found out that he had been in Belize, I thought, wow, they couldn't find him in Belize? That's like saying, hey, I couldn't find him in the backyard.

So how did he elude law enforcement? Did he leave Belize very quickly? I mean, how did he lure in his victims? You know, the guy was smooth. He was slick. He knew what he was doing. I can't tell you exactly how he evaded law enforcement down there, but I can tell you he

was in the expat areas. I mean, he hung out a lot in the northern part of Belize, but eventually made his way down to the southern part of Belize. Well, here's the good news. Take a listen to our friends at KUSI. We do have some breaking news to bring you right now. Raymond R.J. McLeod, one of the U.S. Marshals' top 15 most wanted fugitives, is now in custody in El Salvador. McLeod was charged with the murder of 30-year-old Crystal Mitchell on June 10th of 2016. Detectives from the San Diego Police Department say there were signs of a struggle and determined Mitchell was last seen alive with her boyfriend, Ryan McLeod. On Monday, August 29th, U.S. Marshals accompanied a team of El Salvadoran police to the town of San Senado and conducted surveillance on the school in question. They determined the individual inside the school was in fact Mr. McLeod, going by the

name of Jack Donovan. I will be satisfied when he is convicted for brutally murdering my daughter and that he is sentenced to life in prison. How was he hiding out? Take a look to our friends at CBS 8. I remember he told me he's from Canada. Also, his name was Jack, just Jack. Josue Castro took this photo of his English teacher in Sonzonate, El Salvador, at a school called Direct English, where he studied English for more than two years between 2017 and 2019. Little did he know his teacher was a fugitive. Raymond McLeod wanted for murder. To Frankie Sanchez, Chief Inspector of U.S. Marshals Task Force,

how did you catch him all the way in El Salvador? And why would he choose El Salvador, do you think? I couldn't tell you why he chose El Salvador. I think the further south he got, the less noticeable he would be. People would not maybe not know his story, who he was, that he was wanted. But I can tell you that, you know, on the 20th of August, the Marshal Service had received a tip from a tipster. And the, you know, again, we've received numerous, numerous tips throughout the years.

This is just one of those tips that we had to look into. And we did, and the information was was fruitful you know josephine winsell is joining me josephine tell me how it went down that you found out rj mcleod had been arrested well nancy as you know for six years i've been you know sharing information with the u.s marshals of course know, because of legal reasons, they can't really, you know, share everything with me, but we work together on my tips, and I just want to make that very clear.

When pictures come in, of course, you know, we share it together because it's this, what do you think? You know, I'm the mom examining him. I can see him, you know, know it's him a mile away so when I had seen a picture that a source had you know contacted the marshals of course later it was determined that they had you know that person had seen stuff that I was posting around. I wasn't too sure and I wasn't hopeful after six years. It was more like, okay,

Frankie Sanchez and Francisco Barajas had me work to a point where it's like, don't put your hopes up high. Don't get excited when we find something like this. And so it just so happened that I was working on two cases of two missing women and I was assisting don't get excited when we find something like this. And so it just so happened that I'm work, I was working on two cases of two missing women, and I was assisting some families. So I didn't really put a lot into it, because I knew that the US Marshals were on it. And I knew that something was going to come off it, I basically was in shock and disbelief. And I kept saying to the Marshal Francisco Barajas that, you know, are you sure?

Did you check his tattoo? Did you touch him? Are you sure? Is it him? Is it really him? You know, I just wasn't too sure, Nancy. I just didn't want to get my hopes up high. But I was, I think I was in shock too.

Will there be justice? Take a look at 25 KUSI. Raymond McLeod stood before a judge for the first time Friday after being captured in El Salvador. The judge ordered news cameras not to show his face in court during his arraignment. But pictures of this former marine had been plastered everywhere for years wanted by the u.s marshals as a top fugitive mcleod had been on the run accused of killing his girlfriend crystal mitchell at a residence in allied gardens to dave mack joining us crime online.com investigative reporter dave mack what happens now now they'll continue on

with the prosecution nancy um you, he has pleaded not guilty. With the judge not allowing cameras in the courtroom, we're going to be getting a lot of secondhand information coming out of the courtroom. So we'll just have to go from there. But bottom line is he is in custody. It's time for justice finally. Finally. And we wait as justice unfolds. Nancy Grace, Crime Stories, signing off with a big, big thank you to the U.S. Marshal Service

and to Josephine Wenzel, who never gave up. Goodbye. This is an iHeart Podcast.