Man accused of killing his wife in Watsonville caught at US-Mexico border

WATSONVILLE, Calif. (KION) A Watsonville man accused of murdering his wife has been arrested after re-entering the U.S. From Mexico.

Police say Border Patrol contacted them at about 5 p.m. Monday to say 47-year-old Cesar Hernandez was being detained at San Ysidro.

Hernandez was officially taken into custody by Watsonville detectives at 2 a.m. Tuesday. He has waived extradition and has been booked into the Santa Cruz County Jail on second-degree murder charges.

Murder charges will officially be filed, but the degree will not be specified. Police are not saying how Hernandez got to Mexico because the investigation is ongoing, and they said they cannot say why he returned from Mexico.

Police believe Hernandez killed his wife, 24-year-old Brenda Becerra, last week at their home in the 700 block of Rodriguez Street. Her body was found in the couple's only car about 10 hours later in Santa Cruz. It was near Dominican Hospital, where she worked The coroner's office said she died as a result of "blunt force head injuries and mechanical asphyxia."

Becerra was reported missing by family members when Hernandez dropped their children off at a family member's home at around 2 a.m.