AURORA | A murder suspect on the lam since police say he killed an apartment complex owner during a 2010 robbery has been extradited back to Colorado from Mexico, Adams County prosecutors said Tuesday, Oct. 6.
Javier Agurre, 36, is accused of killing Lyndsay Pham, 45, in March 2010 at the Desconso Apartments at 11102 E. 16th Avenue.
Police and prosecutors have said Agurre fled to his native Mexico a few months after the slaying and before police could obtain a warrant for his arrest.
Adams County prosecutors said Tuesday that Agurre had been arrested in Mexico and extradited back to Colorado where he made his first court appearance Tuesday.
“This was a long and difficult process,” District Attorney Dave Young said in a statement. “I’m very thankful to the Mexican government and our government for their efforts in bringing this defendant back so we can proceed with the charges against him in this horrendous crime.”
Sue Lindsay, a spokeswoman for Young, said Agurre was taken into custody in March in Mexico and extradited to Colorado last week.
Agurre is charged with first-degree murder after deliberation, first-degree felony murder and two counts of aggravated robbery, prosecutors said.
Lupe Rubio, Agurre’s girlfriend at the time of the slaying, pleaded guilty in 2012 to helping Agurre plan the robbery and was sentenced to 19 years in prison.
At Rubio’s sentencing, prosecutors said she was the manager of the apartment complex and plotted the robbery with Agurre. Rubio’s lawyer said she wasn’t present when the crime happened and said she never planned for Pham to be killed, only for her to be robbed.
Rubio was charged with murder but after a jury failed to reach a verdict during her trial in 2011, prosecutors reached a plea agreement with her that stipulated she plead guilty to a conspiracy charge and be sentenced to between 10 and 25 years in prison.
Under the terms of that agreement, Rubio is required to testify against Agurre, her lawyer said.