FBI Chicago
Special Agent Siobhan Johnson
(312) 829-1199
August 9, 2016

Chicago Man Wanted for First-Degree Murder Extradited from Mexico

A Chicago man suspected of fatally stabbing his wife three years ago has been arrested in Mexico, announced Michael J. Anderson, Special Agent in Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI; Zachary T. Fardon, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; Eddie Johnson, Superintendent for the Chicago Police Department; and Anita Alvarez, State’s Attorney for Cook County.

Cesar Sanabria, 34, of the 4400 block of South Richmond Ave., was taken into custody by Mexican authorities on January 14, 2016, in Jalisco, Mexico. On March 19, 2014, the Circuit Court of Cook County issued an arrest warrant for first-degree murder. Sanabria had been the subject of an international manhunt coordinated by FBI Chicago since March 28, 2014, after being charged in a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago with unlawful flight to avoid prosecution. He was extradited back to Chicago on August 3, 2016.

Sanabria was wanted in connection with the stabbing death of Lady Diana Sanabria. According to Chicago Police detectives, her body was found on November 3, 2013, in the kitchen area of her home with a large laceration to her neck. Her death was ruled a homicide, and authorities believe her husband was the perpetrator.

Sanabria had not been seen in the Chicago area since November 3, 2013. Investigators believe he boarded a plane at O’Hare International Airport that day and flew to Mexico City, Mexico, according to the complaint.

Sanabria will be tried in Cook County Circuit Court on a charge of first-degree murder.

The search for Sanabria was coordinated by the Chicago FBI’s Violent Crimes Task Force, which is composed of FBI special agents, detectives from the Chicago Police Department, and investigators from the Cook County Sheriff’s Police.

The public is reminded that a complaint is not evidence of guilt and that all defendants in a criminal case are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.