MANASSAS, Va., Feb. 11 (UPI) -- A man charged with killing three people in Manassas, Va., is an illegal immigrant who had been dodging deportation since 2002, police said Friday.
Jose Oswaldo Reyes Alfaro, 37, was arrested Thursday, The Washington Post reported. Investigators said his car was pulled over at about 8 p.m. less than 45 minutes after the first bodies were found.
Brenda Ashcraft, 56, and William Ashbey, 37, were shot and killed at one house in Manassas, while a teenage girl suffered minor injuries, police said. A few blocks away at a second home, Julio Cesar Ulloa, 48, died from a gunshot wound, while a 77-year-old woman was attacked with a knife.
Alfaro has been charged with three counts of murder.
Police said Alfaro knew the people he attacked, although they did not suggest a motive.
Alfaro, a native of El Salvador, has been in the United States since 2001, Cori Bassett, a spokeswoman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said. She said he was apparently identified as an illegal immigrant soon after his arrival, failed to show up for a hearing before an immigration judge in 2002 and stayed under the radar until his arrest Thursday.
