Long-Sought Suspect in 2003 Phoenix Homicide Case Arrested After 20 Years on the Run

After a protracted hunt spanning over two decades, the Phoenix Police Department’s Cold Case Homicide Unit has finally seen a key breakthrough in a 2003 homicide. Hector Bautista, now 42, has been arrested for his alleged involvement in the fatal shooting of an adult male, as per a statement by thePhoenix Police Department.

On that fateful night back in January 2003, when police were called to the scene near 41st St. and McDowell Rd., they discovered 57-year-old Anton Matous with a gunshot wound. Matous was swiftly rushed to a hospital but could not survive the severity of his injuries. Bautista, along with an accomplice, was accused of attempting to rob Matous, subsequently leading to the shooting.

This cold case reignited when detectives, working persistently alongside the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office and the U.S. Marshals Service, managed to locate Bautista, who had reportedly fled the United States immediately after the incident. According to aPhoenix Police Department release, with tireless efforts and international collaboration, they were successful in extraditing Bautista back to Phoenix from abroad.

“Ever since this cruel and senseless murder occurred in 2003,” detective Dominick Roestenberg stated, “the Phoenix Police Department, the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office and the U.S. Marshals Service have worked tirelessly to get justice for Anton and his family.” Now booked on charges of first-degree murder and armed robbery, Bautista’s arrest brings a measure of closure to a case that remained unresolved for over twenty years. The second assailant involved in this crime was apprehended and convicted on related charges in 2003, as reported by thePhoenix Police Department.

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