Accused Wife Killer Arrested in Mexico, Ends 14 Year International Manhunt

Brampton man will attend court hearing on Wednesday, police say

A Peel Regional Police vehicle in a file photo. (Cole Burston/The Canadian Press)

A Brampton man accused of killing his wife has been extradited from Mexico, ending an international manhunt that lasted 14 years.

Henry Stanley Morales, now 44 year-old, has been arrested in Mexico for an alleged murder of his wife, Malena Morales, inside their Brampton apartment in 2006.

The Peel regional police announced on Tuesday that Henry Morales has been brought back to Canada by Homicide and Missing Persons Bureau investigators. He is charged with murder and is scheduled to appear at the Ontario Court of Justice in Brampton on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, Deputy Chief Nick Milinovich posted on his twitter showing a photo of the suspect being escorted by the investigators in Toronto Pearson International Airport, saying the suspect has “to face justice.”

https://twitter.com/DC_Milinovich/status/1306019350810370050

Police found Malena Morales, mother of two, dead inside the couple’s home at Steeles Avenue and McMurchy Avenue in Brampton on July 13, 2006 at about 2.00 a.m.

There were “obvious signs of trauma to the body,” the police reported. Malena Morales was believed to be beaten and strangled by the suspect. She was 31 year-old.

“She was a good, hard-working woman who loved her kids,” the victim’s sister Lissette Franco told the Toronto Sun in a 2009 interview.

Franco said the victim “wanted out of the marriage” and was suffering physical abuse by the accused, but “he didn’t want that.” Franco said she noticed bruises on her sister weeks before the homicide happened.

A Canada-wide search warrant was issued the day after the body was found for the arrest of Henry Morales for alleged homicide. He was 30 year old at the time.

Investigators believed Morales fled to Mexico, and at the time of the warrant said he may have escaped to Ecuador, Guatemala, Panama, El Salvador or the southern United States.

In 2009, his case was featured on the television show “America’s Most Wanted” after years fruitless searching by the authorities.

Franco, however, did not give up hope of finding Henry Morales. In April 2009, she set up a Twitter account page for her sister’s case for anyone having information about the suspect’s whereabouts to notify her and the family.

The twist of events comes after the accused was located in Mexico in 2019, after 13 years of eluding the police.

“After a ten-month long extradition process, and with assistance from Mexican authorities, he was arrested on the outstanding warrant,” Peel police said. “Investigators immediately traveled to Mexico and escorted him back to Canada.”

Deputy Chief Milinovich praised the investigators in tracking down Henry Morales over the years.

“This case is a shining example of the level of determination by our officers, in their relentless pursuit of justice and to secure closure for the family of Malena Morales,” the deputy chief said.

He added the case is a reminder to some members of the community that the threat of intimate partner violence is real.

“Domestic violence does not discriminate between race or culture, and incidents like this terrible tragedy leave behind numerous victims in their wake. If you are a victim of domestic violence, or know someone who is, make the call. We can help,” Milinovich said.