YUBA CITY, Calif. — Francisco Arellano was found guilty Wednesday of the 1999 murder of Blanca Dueñas-Arellano, according to the Sutter County District Attorney.
Arellano was arrested about 23 years after Blanca Dueñas-Arellano was murdered in the 600 block of Queens Avenue in Yuba City on July 26, 1999. She was 32 years old when Arellano, her estranged husband, stabbed and strangled her to death, according to the district attorney's office.
He was a prime suspect in her murder once an investigation began, but Arellano fled to Mexico with their two children immediately after Dueñas-Arellano's death.
Investigators learned Arellano was living in Morales, Mexico in 2019 and began working to extradite him to Yuba City. He was finally arrested on June 22, 2022, and extradited on Nov. 18, 2022, where he was then booked into the Sutter County Jail.
While Arellano testified to acting in self-defense, according to testimony, Blanca was stabbed 13 times and a phone cord was wrapped around her neck four times.
"There is no valid theory of self-defense in this case. There is no way that (Arellano) didn’t use more force than was reasonably necessary to defend himself against anyone," District Attorney Jennifer Dupré said.
Sonia Dueñas, Dueñas-Arellano's sister, previously told ABC10 Blanca was a music lover, she was goofy and had a laugh everyone in their family still misses.
Arellano is facing 25 years to life in prison and will be sentenced on April 26 at 9 a.m.
