Arnoldo Jimenez is accused of killing Estrella Carrera less than 48 hours after their wedding.
CHICAGO, Ill. — Arnoldo Jimenez, a former FBI Ten Most Wanted fugitive accused of killing his wife in 2012, has been returned to the United States after his arrest in Mexico and is being held without bond.
Jimenez is charged in Cook County with first-degree murder in the death of Estrella Carrera, 26, who was found dead May 13, 2012, in the bathtub of her Burbank apartment. Authorities said she was still wearing the dress from her wedding reception when officers found her.
The FBI Chicago office announced Thursday that Jimenez had been brought back from Mexico. He was arrested Jan. 30, 2025, in Monterrey after work by Mexican authorities, U.S. law enforcement and international partners. “No matter how much time has passed or where a criminal may be in the world, the FBI will never stop in our pursuit of justice,” the agency said.
Investigators said Carrera and Jimenez married at Chicago City Hall on May 11, 2012, then celebrated with family and friends. Authorities have said the couple later argued, and Jimenez is accused of stabbing Carrera more than 18 times in his black Maserati before moving her body to her apartment in the 7800 block of South Rutherford Avenue in Burbank.
A state arrest warrant was issued days after Carrera was found. Federal authorities later charged Jimenez with unlawful flight to avoid prosecution after investigators said he fled. The FBI added him to its Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list in 2019 and later offered a reward of up to $250,000 for information leading to his arrest.
Jimenez remained outside the United States for more than a decade before agents said he was taken into custody without incident in Monterrey. The FBI credited its Chicago and San Antonio offices, its legal attaché in Mexico City, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Interpol and Mexico’s Fiscalía General de la República.
The case now returns to Cook County court, where Jimenez is expected to face the murder charge. Officials have not released a motive. Court proceedings will determine how the long-running case moves forward after years in which Jimenez was listed among the FBI’s most wanted fugitives.
Jimenez is being held without bond and is due back in court Monday, June 22. The case remains pending.
Author note: Last updated June 20, 2026.