SUSPECT IN DEPUTY DEATH BACK IN U.S. EXTRADITION FROM MEXICO SUCCESSFUL AFTER NEARLY A YEAR.

Byline: SUSAN ABRAM Staff Writer

MONTEREY PARK -- The handcuffs that hung on sheriff's Deputy David March's belt the day he was gunned down will be shackled around the slaying suspect's wrists this week when he is handed over to Los Angeles officials and charged with murder.

Sheriff Lee Baca held up those handcuffs Tuesday as he and members of the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office announced that Jorge Arroyo Garcia, the man suspected of killing March in 2002 before fleeing to Mexico, had successfully been extradited and was on United States soil early Tuesday.

Garcia will sit in an Orange County jail until Thursday, when he will be arraigned in a Pomona courtroom and charged with March's death.

``David March led with his heart, and that makes this tragedy all the more difficult,'' said an emotional Baca, gesturing with the slain deputy's handcuffs to symbolize that justice for his deputy had finally arrived.

``David March will ultimately have the last say in this case.''

March's case became a glaring example of immigrant fugitives escaping U.S. justice by slipping back into their home countries -- where legal wrangles often delay or prevent extradition to the U.S.

But on Tuesday, inside sheriff's headquarters in Monterey Park, District Attorney Steve Cooley and an official from the Mexican Consul General's Office declared success, saying Garcia's detention could lead to better cooperation on extradition between the two countries.

Cooley said he will pursue a life sentence without parole for Garcia.

``Four years, eight months and 10 days -- that's how much time has elapsed since David March was brutally gunned down,'' Cooley said.

A gang member, Garcia had a record of dealing methamphetamines and held odd jobs in his country. He was captured nearly a year ago in a small town outside Guadalajara.

Under Mexican law, Garcia was allowed two appeals to avoid extradition, but judges in both trials found the evidence against him solid.

``This tells anyone who commits a crime here that they will not be allowed to find refuge in Mexico,'' said Guillermo Fonseca Leal, legal attache for the Mexican Consul General's Office in Los Angeles.

March, a 33-year-old deputy from Saugus, was gunned down April 29, 2002, as he approached a black Nissan Maxima on an Irwindale street. Garcia, an undocumented worker who already had been deported four times and was wanted on suspicion of attempted murder in Baldwin Park, was the prime suspect in March's slaying.

In 2001, the Mexican Supreme Court barred extradition of nationals who faced a life sentence in the United States. The March case sparked a national outcry as lawmakers, radio show hosts and March's widow, Theresa, called for changes in the Mexican system.

Theresa March testified before a congressional hearing, appeared at rallies and worked to lobby for Garcia's arrest and extradition. In 2005, the Mexican courts reversed the ban.

While grateful to law enforcement agencies, March's parents and widow said Garcia's extradition marked another reminder of their loved one's death.

``I thought it would be a day of celebration, but it's a day of sorrow,'' she said. ``Two people are gone forever. Garcia threw his life away, and David is gone forever. We have been broken without him.''

susan.abram(at)dailynews.com

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