Man convicted in 1999 killing of his estranged wife in Yuba City
YUBA CITY - A man who was arrested in Mexico has been convicted of killing his estranged wife after she was found dead in a Yuba City apartment with more than a dozen stab wounds in 1999, the Sutter County District Attorney's Office said.
Francisco Arellano was found guilty of murdering 32-year-old Blanca Duenas-Arellano on July 26, 1999.
Duenas-Arellano was found dead in her apartment on the 600 block of Queens Avenue. Arellano was the prime suspect but authorities said he took off to Mexico with his and Bianca's two children after Bianca's death.
Detectives eventually learned Arellano was living in Morales, Mexico. On June 22, 2022, he was taken into custody and extradited from Mexico on Nov. 18, 2022.
During the testimony, the district attorney's office said Duenas-Arellano was stabbed 13 times in her chest, arms and right leg. A phone cord was wrapped around her neck four times.
Arellano said he acted in self-defense, prosecutors said, but district attorney Jennifer Dupré said "There is no valid theory of self-defense in this case."
He is scheduled to be back in court on April 26 at 9 a.m. and faces a maximum sentence of 25 years to life in prison.