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The children of an Arizona woman murdered by an ex-US Marine were left relieved when their grandmother tracked him down after six years on the run – telling her ‘we can sleep now without worrying about him killing us.’
Krystal Mitchell, 30, was strangled by Raymond McLeod, 34, while the pair were vacationing in San Diego on June 10, 2016.
He left the mother-of-two’s body in the apartment, before taking her car to the airport where he rented another vehicle and fled to Mexico.
McLeod kept US Marshals looking for him for six years, before Krystal’s mother – retired detective Josephine Wentzel – launched her own investigation and hunted him down.
He was captured by authorities while teaching English in the small town of Sonsonate in El Salvador in July this year.
Speaking exclusively to DailyMail.com Wentzel, 63, revealed that she came across many ‘crooks, thieves and thugs’ in the hunt for her daughter’s killer.
Krystal’s children were just six and seven when their mother was brutally murdered, and they have been cared for by their grandmother ever since.
Josephine Wentzel, a retired police detective, launched her own investigation after her daughter Krystal, right, was killed by ex-Marine Raymond McLeod
Krystal Mitchell, 30, was strangled by Raymond McLeod, 34, while the pair were vacationing in San Diego on June 10, 2016
Krystal’s daughter told her grandmother after McLeod was arrested ‘at least we can sleep without worrying about him coming here and killing us’
Wentzel said: ‘When I asked my grandchildren how they felt about his capture, you just don’t realise what’s going on in these kids’ heads.
‘They look fine, and they are not showing any aggression and are doing well in school. But when I asked them my granddaughter said, ‘at least we can sleep now without worrying about him coming here and killing us.’
‘I didn’t even realized that was a thought in her head, some days she wanted her dog to sleep in her bed with her and maybe that was why.
‘My grandson had a wooden sword that he would sleep with too. It’s tragic for them and it’s important that I lead the life that I do for their sakes.
‘You never have closure thinking someone is out there, they could be coming down the street at any point. If he’s in there for 25 years, that’s the least I’m praying for as the kids will be in their early 30s.
‘I’m just hoping he pleads guilty to stop any more distress to my family. If there is any ounce of a man in him, then he should plead guilty.’
McLeod had told people that he was Canadian and use the fake name ‘Jack Donovan’ while on the run and was moving around various countries.
Krystal was found strangled after she had visited a bar with McLeod, who had got into an argument with another man, also an ex-Marine
He was captured by authorities while teaching English in the small town of Sonsonate in El Salvador in July this year
Her mother used Facebook to make contacts in the various places McLeod was spotted, eventually hunting him down to El Salvador
Krystal was found strangled after she had visited a bar with McLeod, who had got into an argument with another man, also an ex-Marine.
All three were kicked out of the bar and McLeod and Krystal returned to the rental apartment, where she was found dead the next day.
Marshals appealed for help in hunting him down , but warned he was considered ‘armed and dangerous’ – describing him as ‘an avid bodybuilder and a heavy drinker’.
Wentzel tracked him down to Belize and Guatemala, where she risked her own life crossing Central America chasing leads on the case.
She was threatened with a knife and attacked savagely by a wild dog when she travelled to Guatemala, but most of her detective work was conducted online.
El Salvador had not been on her radar before his arrest, with Wentzel explaining that authorities were tipped off by a local woman who saw a flyer appealing for information about McLeod.
Using social media, the retired detective posted various advertisements in both English and Spanish with contact details for herself and the US Marshals.
Wentzel said: ‘When I came out of my grief five months after her death, I was trying to make sense of what was going on.
At the time of Krystal’s murder in 2016, McLeod was out on bond on a felony charge of inflicting injury on his estranged wife in Riverside, California
McLeod had told people that he was Canadian and use the fake name ‘Jack Donovan’ while on the run and was moving around various countries
‘I couldn’t believe that there was no real system in place, and I wasn’t sure how it was going to turn out.
‘In my mind, a killer had fled the country – like Osama Bin Laden – and I thought that they would say okay let’s go and get him, but that wasn’t the case.
‘I just started going on Facebook, because I knew that I needed to get the public to see the case and know who she was. That was my goal.
‘When I was online, I started looking at different areas in Mexico to try and find him. I thought the best way initially was to make the poster in Spanish and get it out to Spanish speaking areas.
‘As soon as the San Diego police department said they thought he was in Belize that is when I started really pursuing it.
‘I contacted people who lived there, expats, anyone I could contact on Facebook. They would tell me yes he was here at the store, my restaurant or he was at this bar.
Wentzel is also proposing a new law, which would create a strict definition of a cold case and allow families to request a fresh set of eyes look over the evidence after three years
He left the mother-of-two’s body in the apartment, before taking her car to the airport where he rented another vehicle and fled to Mexico
Wentzel came face to face with her daughter’s killer shortly after he was arrested and extradited from Central America back to California – pleading not guilty to her murder
‘One of the girls I met was from Europe, she almost became a friend and was tipping me off when she would see him – which is how I found him at the Almost Famous hostel.
‘He had obviously left by the time anyone got there, but I just kept pushing it out online, contacting hostels, hotels everything.
‘I knew that if you are on the run you’ll probably be on border towns to jump into another country, so I was putting out the ads in coastal areas and the border towns.
‘Facebook will stop you from spamming, so I had to wait a few days in between to message people. I think understanding law enforcements workload I knew not to take what they did personally.
‘They were following their rules and orders, and they needed me to investigate, and I understood that.
‘They trusted me, they knew I wasn’t going to run out there damaging the case. I personally chose to not know the details of the case for that reason.
Her mother used Facebook to track down McLeod, with her tip off to officers directly leading to his arrest
She described her daughter’s killer as a ‘sadist’ who she hoped would ‘never be released’ from jail
‘It is not a good idea, you can jeopardise your own case without realising, and it can be hard to separate your emotions from the investigation.
‘My El Salvador source told me that she had seen him teaching there, and that was that.’
She came face to face with her daughter’s killer shortly after he was arrested and extradited from Central America back to California – pleading not guilty to her murder.
While she is ‘relieved’ that he has finally been captured, with Marshals giving her the credit for his arrest, Wentzel hopes that he will receive life for his crimes.
At the time of Krystal’s murder in 2016, McLeod was out on bond on a felony charge of inflicting injury on his estranged wife in Riverside, California.
He had also pleaded guilty to a 2009 misdemeanor aggravated assault charge and for violating a restraining order.
That charge was later dismissed as part of a plea deal that required the murderer to complete a domestic violence counseling program.
Wentzel said: ‘I went to the arraignment and asked for the best seat in the house. But he couldn’t look at me in the eye.
Krystal has been described as being ‘full of life’, with her mother missing her ‘laughter and her wisdom’
Marshals appealed for help in hunting him down , but warned he was considered ‘armed and dangerous’ – describing him as ‘an avid bodybuilder and a heavy drinker’.
‘He tried to sneak a peek at me, I wanted to make eye contact with him, but he kept jerking his head up and dropping it down.
‘After all my searching and running into all these crooks and criminals I anticipated his arrest to be something a little bit different.
‘I thought it might end with him fleeing, or a shootout. I didn’t anticipate him being picked up and humiliated in front of his class and peers.
‘He is in California and it’s a crying shame. First degree murder is 25 to life, it’s a nightmare night after night.
‘Me doing this has given me the power to say I am Krystal’s mother, and you will never forget her name or face. I made sure he knew his victim very well, knew who she was.
‘I hope that the guy repents his sins, realised what he has done and turns his life around.
‘Not that I want anything great for him but in this world, there is no sense continuing to promote violence.
‘I hope that he is never let back out. He is a very dangerous man, a sadist and unpredictable. I hope to God he never steps outside of jail again.’
While she is ‘relieved’ that he has finally been captured, with Marshals giving her the credit for his arrest, Wentzel hopes that he will receive life for his crimes
Wentzel is also proposing a new law, which would create a strict definition of a cold case and allow families to request a fresh set of eyes look over the evidence after three years.
She is hoping to get it passed first in her home of Washington State, and then try to roll it out over the entire country – calling it ‘Because of Krystal’.
The retired detective added: ‘I’m not going to solve everyone’s cases and I’m not going to find every person.
’99 percent of the time police departments have done their due diligence in the investigation. But I’m pushing for equality in justice to allow families to have a fresh set of eyes.
‘The agencies won’t take over the case, just reassess the evidence. I am already in contact with a legislator here and we are working to create something by the end of the year.
‘Another issue to tackle is the lack of crime lab availability, it takes such a long time before you get results back. But that is a different issue to tackle.’
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