An Oxnard man was taken into custody more than a year after his wife was found dead in Montecito.
According to the Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Office, Jose Roberto MunozSanchez was recently apprehended by the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office after turning himself in at the U.S. - Mexico border.
The arrest comes after a complaint was filed last year by the DA’s Office charging the 39-year-old with first-degree murder in connection with the death of his wife, Blanca Aguilera, on Sept. 29, 2022 in Montecito.
The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office said at the time that a woman, now identified as Aguilera, had been struck by a vehicle on East Mountain Drive and died from her injuries.
The sheriff’s office said the driver took off and they believed Aguilera had been struck intentionally, leading them to investigate her death as a homicide.
The sheriff’s office did not publicly identify MunozSanchez as the suspect, but did say the victim and suspect were known to each other, adding that the attack was not random.
MunozSanchez was arraigned Monday in Santa Barbara County Superior Court but he did not enter a plea. Bail was set at $2 million and the hearing continued to Monday, Oct. 30.
