Colombian Fugitive William Hernando Usma Acosta, Wanted For 1994 Murder, Found Living In Belmont

BELMONT (CBS) -- A fugitive wanted for murder in Colombia was found to be living in Belmont after 27 years on the run, the FBI's Boston branch announced. William Hernando Usma Acosta, who has been living locally under the alias Carlos Alberto Rendon, was arrested on his way to work in Waltham Wednesday, authorities said.

The FBI said Usma Acosta, 61, fled Columbia after the murder of his wife, Laura Rose Agudelo, in 1994.

"The murder was the result of a domestic violence incident in which Usma Acosta shot and killed his wife, and then shot his daughter as she tried to intervene," the FBI said. "He fled Colombia shortly after the incident and is the subject of an Interpol Red Notice."

A Colombian court originally sentenced Usma Acosta to 45 years in prison on aggravated murder and attempted murder charges.

FBI special agents learned in June 2020 that he may have been living in the greater Boston area, and tracked him to Belmont. Immigration records show Usma Acosta illegally crossed the Mexican border illegally into the United States in 1995, and married an American citizen while living in Somerville in 1998, the FBI said.

Authorities said "Carlos Alberto Rendon" submitted a fake Colombian birth certificate and fingerprints to immigration services in a bid for citizenship in 2020. Investigators determined that the Rendon and Usma Acosta fingerprints were an exact match.

"William Hernando Usma Acosta is a convicted cold-blooded killer who thought he could evade justice by entering the United States and creating a new identity for himself so he could live under the radar. He needs to face justice for what he did, and today's arrest ensures that he will," FBI Boston Special Agent in Charge Joseph Bonavolonta said in a statement. "The Commonwealth of Massachusetts will not be a safe haven for those wanted in their native countries, and the FBI will continue to leverage our international partnerships to remove dangerous fugitives like him from our communities."

Immigration officials will start the process of removing Usma Acosta from the United States and transfer him to Colombian law enforcement, the FBI said.

His wife and son in Belmont told WBZ-TV's Kristina Rex Wednesday that none of the allegations are true.

Residents in the Belmont neighborhood where he lived were shocked to hear of the arrest.

"I didn't even know he lived there," one woman said. "It's a very safe neighborhood."

"It's a little bit scary," another neighbor said. "It's just a dose of reality, but it's also just crazy."