LOVINGTON, N.M. — Police arrested an 85-year-old man on Tuesday, decades after he allegedly stabbed a woman to death in Texas, according to police.
Barbara Villarreal was found dead on Nov. 7, 1986 in Garland, about 20 miles from Dallas. She had been repeatedly stabbed and a large kitchen knife was found nearby.
At the time, police interviewed and cleared her husband, officials said. Police also recovered DNA evidence at the scene and entered it into CODIS, the United States' national DNA database.
Officers worked with the FBI on the investigation over the years and tracked leads in both Mexico and the U.S. They identified Liborio Canales, now 85, as a suspect, and determined that he sometimes stayed at a home in Lovington, New Mexico.
RELATED: Suspect wanted in 37-year-old homicide cold case out of Garland arrested in New Mexico, police say
Canales was in Mexico for most of the year, but he crossed the border to enter New Mexico on Monday so he could celebrate his birthday with family, authorities said. He was arrested by officers from Lovingfton and Garland on Tuesday and was booked into the Lea County Detention Center on a federal warrant for the charge of murder.
Bond was set at $1 million. Canales is expected to be extradited to Texas in the coming days.
Officials have not released any other details connecting Canales with Villarreal or with the city of Garland. Police in Lovington referred CBS News to the Garland Police Department for additional information. Officials in Garland have not yet responded to a request for additional information.
