A man accused of a 1996 murder in Miami-Dade who authorities said spent nearly three decades on the run was extradited to South Florida after his arrest in Peru last year.
Christian Miguel Orosco appeared in a Miami-Dade courtroom on Wednesday to face a murder charge, but his hearing was reset for Thursday when his private attorney can be present.
Orosco was just 18 when he allegedly shot 23-year-old James Schwarz at a gas station on Northwest 79th Street on Nov. 28, 1996, Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office officials said.
The two had been involved in a verbal altercation before Orosco approached Schwarz, pulled out a gun and shot him several times before fleeing, officials said.
Schwarz was hospitalized in critical condition but later died from his injuries.
An arrest warrant was issued for Orosco but he couldn’t be found, officials said.
But then the Peruvian National Police received a tip that an individual named Eduardo Enrique Albarracin Trillo was really Orosco, and that Orosco was wanted in the murder, officials said.
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Christian Miguel Orosco
Investigators discovered Orosco fled to Peru after the killing and assumed the identity of Trillo, and was working as an air traffic controller for the Peruvian government at Jorge Chavez International Airport.
Fingerprint identification confirmed Trillo was Orosco, and the Peruvian National Police took him into custody.
Orosco was being held without bond.