Dominican Man Extradited to Puerto Rico to Faces Charges in 2022 Murder Case

San Juan, PR - The Dominican Republic extradited today the suspect in a 2022 murder connected to an alleged violent incident in the Capetillo sector of San Juan, where the partner of his ex-girlfriend was fatally attacked.

Juan Elías Zorrilla Pereira, 37, in the early morning hours of Dec. 17, 2022, is alleged to have forced his way into the home of his ex-girlfriend and stabbed to death Bienvenido Rodríguez Vázquez, 40, before beating and raping his ex-girlfriend, according to the Puerto Rico Police Department.

Zorilla Pereira was charged with aggravated burglary, first-degree murder, destruction of evidence, carrying and use of a bladed weapon, aggravated abuse, spousal sexual assault and abuse through threat. 

Members of the Puerto Rico Violent Offender Task Force (PRVOTF), which includes the Puerto Rico Police Department and the San Juan Police Department, initially concentrated their fugitive investigation in the Capetillo area of Río Piedras and surrounding communities in San Juan. The investigation later extended to the Dominican Republic, where Zorrilla Pereira was located and arrested at the request of the United States on Sept. 4 in Miches during a joint operation led by the Dirección Nacional de Control de Drogas with assistance provided by the U.S. Marshals Service Dominican Republic Foreign Field Office (DRFFO). The Justice Department's Office of International Affairs provided substantial assistance in securing the arrest and extradition to the United States of Zorrilla Pereira.

“The commitment of our U.S. Marshals Violent Offender Task Force in Puerto Rico is to capture violent fugitives and bring them to justice. Our citizens deserve safe communities, free from these dangerous individuals. We remain vigilant and fully engaged to ensure that those who believe they can evade consequences for their actions are held accountable,” said Wilmer Ocasio-Ibarra, U.S. Marshal for the District of Puerto Rico, who also thanked the members of the U.S. Marshals Dominican Republic Foreign Field Office and the Dirección Nacional de Control de Drogas for their support and collaboration in this significant arrest.

Zorrilla Pereira will be transferred to the Puerto Rico Police Department and the Puerto Rico Department of Justice for prosecution.

If you have any information regarding the whereabouts of any state or federal fugitive, please contact the USMS at 1-877-WANTED2, or submit information via the USMS Tips App.

PRVOTF participants include the USMS for the District of Puerto Rico; the Puerto Rico Police Department; the San Juan Police Department; the Bayamon Police Department; the Puerto Rico State Marshal Office; the Puerto Rico Department of Corrections; the US Pretrial and Probation Office; the Puerto Rico Department of Internal Revenue and Puerto Rico National Guard Counterdrug Program.

The PRVOTF’s mission remains clear: to locate and arrest individuals wanted for serious offenses, to safeguard neighborhoods from violent offenders, and to deliver justice without exception.