Valley Village slaying suspect captured in Mexico

A 34-year-old parolee charged in absentia by Los Angeles County prosecutors with fatally stabbing a Valley Village woman during a burglary and setting fire to her home was apprehended Tuesday in Mexico, authorities said.

Omar Armando Loera was arrested in Mexicali by Mexican authorities working with the U.S. Marshals Service and the Los Angeles Police Department, according to multiple sources familiar with the case. But LAPD detectives have yet to officially identify him.

Loera was charged last month with one count each of murder, burglary, arson and assault with a deadly weapon in the July 24 slaying of Cheree Osmanhodzic, 34, whose wedding was to have been in late September.

Prosecutors also charged the parolee with the special circumstances of murder during a burglary and arson, which could make him eligible for the death penalty.

Shortly after Loera was charged, LAPD officers were called to Fryman Canyon after reported sightings of a man who fit Leora's description. For more than six hours, LAPD officers in helicopters, on horseback and in off-road vehicles combed the rugged hills and hiking trails for the suspect but he did not turn up.

Loera was identified as the suspect in the July slaying after DNA and other unspecified evidence found at the scene provided the needed break in the case.

He had gained early release from state prison in February after serving 23 months of a 32-month sentence in connection with a 2008 armed robbery.

In July, police said he broke into one of the triplex units where Osmanhodzic lived with her fiance and killed the woman. That day, Osamhodzic had been shopping for a wedding dress with her mother and fiance, Adam Culvey.

Culvey told police he returned to the couple's home after running errands, put his key in the door and began to push it open. He felt resistance.

Moments later, he confronted a stranger, who ran out and sprinted down the block. Culvey said he chased the intruder then walked back to his residence to find that it was on fire. Inside, firefighters discovered Osmanhodzic, dead on the bedroom floor from multiple stab wounds.

-- Andrew Blankstein

Comments

[All Hallows Eve]

Excellent news!

[anthony]

what a horrible crime..... these animals should simply be shot on the spot... no trial, no jury , no b.s. simply eliminate these people that are in the business to hurt others. no words can take the pain the future husband is dealing with..... i am lost for words......
at least they caught the killer.

[Kev]

Talk about wonderful news on the day. I actually ran into members of the young victim's family in North Hollywood passing about flyers with his picture on it. I hope this can bring some closure although I know it's something they will have to live with for the rest of their lives. God Bless.

[u know]

Please keep him there and let him serve his life sentence in Mexico. I hear the prison system there is absolutely lovely.

[tj]

The death penalty is now off the table now. Mexico won't extradite him unless they get a guarantee he won't face death.

[Cheryl]

Why did the boyfriend not first check on his girlfriend? OK, so he chased the guy 1st, then why did he WALK back to his home? Knowing his fiance was in the house.
I'm just wondering...

[Dr. Bryan]

A real poster child for Schwarzenegger's early release program. Thanks for setting him back on the street.

[markiejoe]

Something sounds fishy about this whole story.

[impoundguy, Los Angeles, Ca.]

Gee...who would have thought he would have fled to Mexico...how unusual!

[Hugo]

So he went in to rob the place but didnt take anything? Then the boyfriend comes right after all that happened? I think there is more to this crime, i hate to say it but i think the girl was set up..