U.S. Marshals Arrest Man Wanted for Slashing Woman’s Throat in LaFollette

Knoxville, TN - On June 15, 2026, U.S. Marshals arrested fugitive Alejandro Mancera Canchola. Canchola was wanted for attempted first-degree murder stemming from an incident on December 17, 2024, in LaFollette, TN.

On December 17, 2024, Alejandro Mancera Canchola went to the home of his girlfriend on South Avenue in LaFollette, with whom he had a baby. There, he attempted to kill the girlfriend by slashing her throat from ear to ear. While slashing her throat, the blade broke (later removed by doctors). While he was retrieving a second blade to finish cutting her throat, he stated that he had killed his first wife and buried her body in his backyard at their home in Mexico. Concerned for the baby, when Canchola returned with a second knife, the victim convinced Canchola to take their child to a neighbor. While he stepped out, the victim was able to escape. The victim stuffed a towel in her throat and crawled to the street, where passersby spotted her and took her for medical assistance. Seeing this, Canchola then took the victim’s car and fled. The victim was taken to the Tennova Medical Center in LaFollette and then transported to the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville where she received extensive medical treatment and has since recovered.

The Knoxville U.S. Marshals’ office was contacted for assistance by then Lt. Matt Forsyth of the LaFollette Police Department. Forsyth had been a long-time member of the U.S Marshals Smoky Mountains Fugitive Task Force (SMFTF). The victim’s car was not located and still has not been recovered. There were relatively no substantive leads on the case as it seemed Canchola had completely vanished. With no information at all being uncovered as to Canchola’s whereabouts, investigators wondered if Canchola might be dead since during the attack on his girlfriend, Canchola said that he was going to kill her and then himself.

On January 15, 2025, Forsyth was promoted to Chief of the LaFollette Police Department. Forsyth vowed to continue to exhaust all efforts to apprehend Canchola and bring him to justice. Working with the Marshals, it was confirmed that Canchola is wanted by Mexican authorities for the murder of his ex-wife.

Despite the lack of substantive leads being uncovered for many months, Deputy U.S. Marshals from the Knoxville office persisted working every tidbit of information they could uncover until they got a break, which led them to Indianapolis, Indiana.

Working with the U.S. Marshals Service Great Lakes Regional Fugitive Task Force (GLRFTF), the Marshals were able to determine that Canchola had been working at an Indian restaurant, Desi Chowrasha, at 3838 E 82nd St. Indianapolis, IA, and staying in a nearby apartment.

Deputy marshals and task force officers surveilled that restaurant and determined that Canchola was inside working when they approached. Canchola initially fled on foot but was captured and taken into custody. He provided a false ID but later confessed that he was Alejandro Mancera Canchola.

Since Canchola is in the U.S. illegally, ICE has placed a detainer on him, and Mexican authorities have been notified of Canchola’s arrest. Canchola was transported to the Marion County Jail in Indianapolis, where he is being held pending extradition to Campbell County to face the attempted first-degree murder charges.

Note: the victim’s name is being withheld at this time for security purposes. Captain Charles Duff and the LaFollette Police Department detective division also deserve considerable credit for their excellent work of the initial crime scene and throughout the investigation.