Accused Killer Of NY Red Bulls Coach Caught After Deadly Hunt In Mexico

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - The suspect in a 2012 killing of a youth soccer coach is accused of killing two Mexican federal agents trying to detain him, setting off a search by police and troops that led to his capture a day later, Mexican officials said Thursday.

Orlando Orea, 39, is charged In New York with second-degree murder for allegedly stabbing of 25-year-old youth soccer coach Michael Jones to death in Union Square.

Mexico's Attorney General's Office said two federal agents were trying to serve a provisional extradition warrant for Orea on Wednesday in the central state of Puebla when he opened fire on them.

The office said federal and state agents and marines then launched a hunt for Orea, including support from aircraft. He was found and arrested without a struggle Thursday at a home in the rural town of Acatlan de Osorio in Puebla state. He had two guns in his possession, officials said.

Officials in Mexico did not say whether Orea might be tried first in Mexico in the detectives' killing. Mexico and the United States have an agreement under which a suspect can be tried in one country and extradited for trial in the other, before serving a sentence in either.

Six years ago, Orea left a handwritten note at his Ridgewood, Queens, apartment before fleeing to his native Mexico, according to the NYPD.

Sources told CBS2 the note from Orea to his brother read "I love you. I hope you can forgive me. I'm sorry."

Investigators said Orea had gotten into a bar fight earlier in the night but Jones was not part of the argument. The brutal slashing was likely a case of mistaken identity, police said.

Jones, who had been living in West Harrison in Westchester County, was found in a pool of blood around 4:30 Sunday morning. One of his ears was cut off. He was pronounced dead on arrival at Bellevue Hospital.

Authorities said Orea, also known by the aliases Orlando Gutierrez or Orlando Estevas, bought a one-way ticket to Mexico City on an Aero Mexico flight just moments before it was scheduled to leave John F. Kennedy Airport on Tuesday morning.

While officials tried to place Orea on a no-fly list, he was already gone by the time they had done so.

Jones, a native of Liverpool, England, was a coach with the New York Red Bulls Youth Training Program. The team held a memorial for Jones shortly after this death.

(© Copyright 2018 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)