Cops: Murder Mystery Solved, Killer Behind Bars

Investigators have tracked down a wanted man in Texas, accused of murdering a North County woman in Mexico. The twist behind the killing -- the woman's housekeeper.

Josefina Houghton's life came to a tragic end in March, two days after her 73rd birthday.  The Oceanside woman had a second home in Mexico. That's where investigators say she was robbed and killed.

"They stabbed my mother multiple times, and beat her up and killed her friend as well," San Diego doctor Robert Houghton said.

The 4th and final suspect in the case, Carlos Garcia-Hernandez, 19, fled to Texas. Garcia-Hernandez is an extremely violent gang member who eluded police for nearly nine months, ICE agents said. He was finally arrested Thursday in Houston, where police say he committed several other crimes since the murder including assault with a deadly weapon.

The arrest brought closure to a son who worked tirelessly to see that everyone charged in his mother's murder gets the justice they deserve.

"She loved museums and Balboa Park and San Diego and she loved to travel and had a happy life," San Diego doctor Robert Houghton said. He says his mother spent half the year in Oceanside and the other half at her home Cuernavaca, Mexico  - about an hour and a half south of Mexico City.

"She had a beautiful garden, a  pool, she was playing badminton, teaching illiterate kids, she was very healthy," Houghton said. Until the day she and a friend, Araceli Cordoba, 54, were robbed inside the home, then murdered. Dr. Houghton says the murder was orchestrated by his mother's housekeeper. She and two others were arrested five days later. They confessed and have since been convicted.

"She sent me a message to apologize, that my mother was good to her and that while she was holding my mother down from being stabbed my mother grabbed her arm and said I hope God forgives you," Houghton said.

Carlos Garcia Hernandez will stand trial for the murders in Mexico.  His arrest is welcomed news to the family.

"She loved Christmas.  She loved the family and it's a Christmas gift to know that these criminals are in custody and won't hurt others."

"It's still being determined whether he'll return home after an official extradition or if his last deportation order will be reinstated in which case he'll be returned to Mexico immediately," Mack said.

Contact Us