A Texas fugitive accused of killing his girlfriend has been captured after more than 10 years on the run.
William Greer, who was featured on HLN’s “The Hunt with John Walsh,” was arrested earlier this week in southern Mexico, the United States Marshals Service and the Harris County Sheriff’s office said.
Greer, 52, was indicted on a murder charge in the death of Tammy Marie Esquivel in 2006. He told police that he watched Esquivel die when a gun “just went off” but at the time, police had no evidence.
During the past 10 years, Greer was allegedly spotted in Louisiana and Kentucky. He was also included in the US Marshals’ 15 Most Wanted List.
Greer was arrested by Mexican authorities in the rural town of Nacajuca in the Mexican state of Tabasco, where he had been living with a woman and two children, US Marshals Southern District Chief Deputy Richard Hunter said in a news conference.
They were able to verify his identity after seeing he was missing a toe on his left foot, something that had been publicized as one of Greer’s distinguishing features, CNN affiliate KTRK reported.
“It seemed like he was living pretty comfortably,” Hunter told KTRK. “We waited for him to leave his house, go pick up his kids from school, and that’s when we approached him. We didn’t really give him a chance to cooperate but he didn’t fight it.”
He is now being held in Harris County, Texas, without bail, KTRK reported.
The case
Greer told police he watched Esquivel die in 2006.
Officers were responding to the scene of a pickup truck parked in a ditch outside of Houston when they found Greer half-naked and intoxicated.
Greer told officers it was his vehicle and then started rambling — going on and on about how much he loved Esquivel, her death and a gun that “just went off.”
“We had a confession obviously,” Sgt. Paul Lasco Liberty County Sheriff’s Office told CNN’s “The Hunt with John Walsh.” “But without some sort of evidence, mainly a body, DNA, crime scene, something, there’s nothing you can do.”
Police booked Greer for public intoxication. He made bail and then immediately fled the state.
Later Greer’s young sons came forward and told authorities that they had overheard Greer and Esquivel arguing, followed by gunfire.
Police searched the couple’s home and found evidence of the crime, but did not find Esquivel’s body, the US Marshals said.