A woman sought by authorities for nearly six years in the poisoning death of a northern Nevada businessman who was her estranged husband has been arrested in Peru, federal authorities said Thursday.
Nazira Maria Cross, 48, was arrested at her home early Wednesday by Peruvian National Police, the FBI stated.
Cross is accused of poisoning her estranged husband, Michael Cross, 55, in Plumas County, Calif., in July 2008. She then allegedly drove him to Lovelock where the couple owned a ranch and buried his body on the property.
Michael Cross owned car dealerships in Reno and Lovelock.
Authorities said Nazira Cross, a native of Costa Rica, fled the United States while autopsy results were pending. She was charged with suspicion of first-degree murder in Plumas County in 2009.
In a 2012 civil case, a Reno judge ruled Cross was a “culpable actor” in Michael Cross’s death, a Reno newspaper reported.
The United States has requested Cross be extradited from Peru to face prosecution.
Cross’s federal fugitive poster has appeared on the Sacramento FBI’s website since 2008 when it was first distributed and reported by domestic and international media. The case was also featured on the television show “America’s Most Wanted.”
The FBI said it received information Cross was residing in Peru after a recent rebroadcast of information about the case.
Cross, also known as Nazira Ugalde, and her two adult children were charged by the Nevada attorney general’s office in 2010 for faking her death in South America to obtain life insurance payouts on policies she received in Reno, according to the Reno newspaper.
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