Fugitive suspected of poisoning husband and then faking her own death to claim insurance payouts is captured in Peru after six years on the run
- Nazira Maria Cross fled the U.S. just before being charged with murder
- 48-year-old 'buried husband on ranch and drove repeatedly over his grave'
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Arrested: Murder suspect Nazira Maria Cross has been caught in Peru
A woman suspected of poisoning her husband in 2008 and burying his body on their Nevada ranch has been caught in Peru after six years on the run.
Nazira Maria Cross was arrested at her home by Peruvian police on Wednesday morning, after the FBI received a tip off that the murder suspect had fled to the South American country.
The 48-year-old professor is believed to have poisoned Michael Cross in California, before driving to Nevada to bury his body.
Cross, who is originally from Costa RIca, is accused of fleeing the U.S. while authorities waited for autopsy results.
In 2009, she was charged with first-degree murder over the death of the 55-year-old owner of two car dealerships.
The FBI claims that Cross poisoned her estranged husband in California in July 2008, then drove his body to Lovelock, where they owned property, to dispose of his body.
After burying his body, Cross is accused of repeatedly driving over the grave.
A year later the Nevada attorney-general charged Cross and her two adult children with faking her death in South America to obtain life insurance payouts.
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ShareHer daughter was fined $1,000 and her son remains a fugitive, according to the Reno Gazette-Journal.
In a 2012 civil case, a Reno judge ruled that Cross was a 'culpable actor' in her husband's death.
Fugitive: Nazira Maria Cross, pictured in 2008, is accused of poisoning her husband before fleeing to Peru
Scam: Cross is also accused of trying to fake her own death to claim insurance payments
The couple had been married for eight years, but divorced in the January of the year Mr Cross was killed. They had met when he vacationed in Costa Rica.
On the day he was poisoned, neighbors claimed Mr Cross's wife asked for help getting him into her car, and told them he was sick and was on his way to hospital.
When the neighbors didn't hear back from Mr Cross, they called police who discovered his body on the ranch, according to Inside Costa Rica.
Cross's case has been widely featured, and her wanted poster was distributed across the U.S. and internationally. The case was also featured on America's Most Wanted.
The U.S. has made a request for Peru to extradite Cross to face prosecution.
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