N. Miami Beach Police Credit TV Show For Murder Suspect's Arrest
NORTH MIAMI BEACH (CBS4) - On the run for a little more than two years, a man accused in the murder of a North Miami Beach woman was taken into custody over the weekend in Minnesota thanks to a tip to a popular TV crime show.
North Miami Beach police plan to release more details Monday concerning the arrest of 46-year old Abraham Mpaka. The 16-year-old daughter of the woman who was killed said she was shocked when she heard the news.
"At first I didn't believe it," Tatiana Paul said. "I didn't believe it but then I was elated. I just … I started crying."
Mpaka, a native of Zambia, is accused of stabbing his ex-girlfriend Coty Paul, 43, to death on December 26th, 2008. She was found stabbed to death at a friend's apartment.
Mpaka was featured on the television show "America's Most Wanted" three times before his arrest. According to police, a woman who read a story about him on the show's website thought he looked like a friend's boyfriend. She called the show's tip line who in turn contacted police.
"Through her we were able to make contact with the FBI in Minnesota," Detective Tray Lystad said. "He was arrested at a library in Hastings a suburb of Saint Paul without incident."
Mpaka remains in a Minnesota jail.
Authorities said they have surveillance video of Mpaka purchasing the knife he used to murder her from a Walmart.
"Without a doubt this gentleman is diabolic," Chief Rafael Hernandez Jr. of the North Miami Beach Police Department said. "A nefarious predator. He's a predator and we are very, very happy that we got him out of the streets."
Lystad said Mpaka confessed.
Authorities are trying to have extradited to North Miami Beach.
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