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Arturo Ortega Garcia, 69, of Mexico City, Mexico has been extradited to the United States. He is accused of murdering Francisco Clive Santoni Thornhill, Maria Concepcion “Connie” Villa and Dante Santoni Villa of El Paso, Texas, United States on August 11, 1994.

Francisco was 59, Villa was 28. Dante was 3.

Villa was Francisco’s girlfriend and Dante is their son. Francisco is Luis Santoni and Anna Rosalina Thornhill‘s son while Villa is Nicholas Villa and Maria T. Villa‘s daughter.

Francisco owned an international auto parts business. Connie was a travel agent.

On August 11, 1994, El Paso Police Department officers found Francisco, Connie and Dante’s bodies inside their two-story stucco home, which is behind Montwood High School in El Paso. Each of the three had at least 10 stab wounds.

Both Francisco and Connie were found dead on the floor of the master bedroom. In a separate room, Dante was found face-down on his bed.

There was no sign of forcible entry. Jewelry and clothing were stolen from the house and the family’s 1994 Dodge Colt was missing.

In 2015, technological advancements resulted in the identification of Ortega as a suspect in the fatal stabbings. A warrant for his arrest was issued but his whereabouts were unknown.

In 2020, Ortega was arrested in Mexico City for an unrelated crime. On November 4, 2022, he was extradited from Mexico City and the U.S. Marshal’s Lone Star Fugitive Task Force arrested him in El Paso.

Ortega was booked into the El Paso County Detention Center in El Paso. His bond was set at $5 million.

On November 15, 2022, Ortega was arraigned in court in El Paso. Represented by his appointed attorney Leonard Martinez, the Mexican man pleaded not guilty to capital murder of multiple persons.