Spanish National police reported on Friday that they had arrested a Spanish fugitive in New York, with the help of the Spanish embassy in Washington, the FBI and American immigration authorities from the ICE.

Police believe that he is responsible for the murder of his girlfriend in 1997.

The Spanish national with Dominican roots had been dating the Colombian mother of two for six months before her death. Police say she had wanted to end the relationship weeks before, and the man had refused. The suspect started to act resentful towards her and intimidated her in direct and indirect ways, even reportedly threatening to kill her with a gun.

Then on October 5th 1997, police say the man turned up to the woman’s home in Barcelona where she lived with her children and other family members, saying he needed to retrieve some documents from her. Police believe that through either violence, intimidation or deception, the man managed to get the woman into his car, after which point she was not seen again.

The next day, the man boarded a flight and arrived in New York, where he has since been living secretly, using fake documents, the FBI confirmed. It is believed that he never returned to Spain after that.

Eight months after he left for New York, the woman’s body was discovered by chance in an area with a lot of vegetation in nearby Viladecans, close to Barcelona’s airport.

Spanish police explained in their report that they had been able to track the suspect down with the help of not only American, but also Dominican authorities, and were able to deduce that the man had been using a new identity in New York.

The man is now being held in a detention centre in the US, awaiting his extradition to Spain.