HARRISBURG —
A former Harrisburg man was arrested Wednesday in Puerto Rico in a firebombing and double homicide in Pennsylvania more than three decades ago, federal marshals said.
Erasmo Cruz, 55, is charged in the August 1980 slayings of 41-year-old Nancy Patterson and her 17-year-old daughter, Deborah Patterson, in central Pennsylvania's Adams County, authorities said.
The family awoke just before 3 a.m. to find that Molotov cocktails had been thrown into their Freedom Township home, officials said. When they ran outside, masked men shot at them, killing the two victims.
A relative of one of the victims was originally charged but acquitted at trial. Authorities said state police uncovered evidence in 2010 implicating Cruz, who had been involved with the teenage victim. Officials said witnesses told them that Cruz was "extremely jealous and abusive" and that the girl had just ended their relationship.
The U.S. marshals said in a news release that a task force tracked Cruz to the village of Juana Diaz and on Wednesday found him standing outside his home. Officials said that he fled into the home and tried to barricade himself, but that marshals were able to gain entry and took him into custody.
Cruz is charged with criminal homicide, conspiracy, arson and burglary. He is being held in Puerto Rico pending extradition proceedings. It's unclear whether he has an attorney.
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