RJ McLeod Case: Six-Year Manhunt, Evidence Reset, New Prelim

The RJ McLeod case is the pending San Diego murder prosecution of Raymond “RJ” McLeod Jr., a former U.S. Marine accused of strangling his girlfriend Krystal Mitchell in a San Diego apartment on June 10, 2016. McLeod fled the country and spent six years as a fugitive across Central America before U.S. Marshals tracked him to El Salvador in August 2022. He has pleaded not guilty, claims Mitchell’s death was accidental, and is being held without bail while the case moves toward a second preliminary hearing scheduled for June 17, 2026.¹

What Happened in San Diego in June 2016

Krystal Mitchell was 30 years old, a divorced mother of two, and a property manager in Phoenix. She had met McLeod only weeks earlier when he came into her office to rent an apartment.² On June 9, 2016, the two drove from Phoenix to San Diego to spend the weekend at the apartment of Justin Seydell, a friend of McLeod’s from the Marine Corps.³

They went to a bar that night. Witnesses saw McLeod grab Mitchell by the throat, and a bystander named Joshua Kenney intervened and tried to put McLeod in a chokehold.³ Surveillance footage from the apartment complex later showed McLeod placing his hand on Mitchell’s throat as the couple entered an elevator.⁴

The next afternoon, Seydell returned from playing volleyball and found Mitchell dead in the guest bedroom. Seydell, who had EMT training, testified he was “fairly certain she was deceased” and saw “a good amount of blood on both the bed and the floor.” McLeod was gone. A deputy medical examiner determined Mitchell had been strangled, with three fractures to her voice box, bruising on her arms and legs, and facial contusions.³

Six Years as a Fugitive

McLeod left the country with roughly $10,000 in cash.⁵ San Diego prosecutors obtained a murder warrant, and in February 2017 the U.S. Marshals Service secured a federal Unlawful Flight to Avoid Prosecution warrant.⁶ Investigators believe he crossed into Mexico and moved south. He was reportedly sighted in Guatemala in 2017 and Belize in 2018, using aliases including “Matt” and “Mateo” and growing a beard.⁷

In April 2021, McLeod was added to the U.S. Marshals’ 15 Most Wanted list, becoming the first fugitive placed on that list with a starting reward of $50,000.⁸ By then he had settled in Sonsonate, El Salvador, taking the alias “Jack Donovan” and teaching English at a local school.⁹

On August 20, 2022, the Marshals received a tip that a man matching his description was teaching English in Sonsonate.⁹ One account traces it to someone who saw McLeod’s photo on Univision and recognized him from a brochure for the school.¹⁰ Two U.S. Marshals flew to El Salvador the following week. On August 29, 2022, Salvadoran law enforcement arrested McLeod in his classroom without incident, with U.S. Marshals and U.S. Embassy staff present.¹¹ He confirmed his identity on the spot.

Rather than going through formal extradition, McLeod was deported the next day and arrived in San Diego. He was arraigned on September 2, 2022, pleaded not guilty to murder, and has been held without bail since.⁹

The Role of Mitchell’s Mother

Josephine Wentzel, Mitchell’s mother and a 67-year-old retired police detective who had served in Guam, grew frustrated with the pace of the official investigation and launched her own search.² She taught herself social media investigative techniques, created wanted posters with McLeod’s photo and the reward amount, and circulated them to Facebook pages tied to businesses and organizations in areas where he was suspected of hiding.

Wentzel also ran targeted Facebook ads within a 100-mile radius near the Guatemala-El Salvador border so local residents would see McLeod’s face.² The San Diego County District Attorney’s Office called her “instrumental” in the search, and the U.S. Marshals Service described her as a “driving force” behind the case.¹² The Marshals later told Wentzel that one of her Facebook ads had led someone to share the English school brochure featuring McLeod with authorities.

The Evidence Problem That Reset the Case

A three-day preliminary hearing took place in October 2024 before San Diego Superior Court Judge Kimberlee Lagotta.³ Deputy District Attorney Franciesca Balerio presented the surveillance footage, witness testimony from the bar, and evidence of the six-year flight as consciousness of guilt.¹³ Defense attorneys Alison Triessl and Robert Sheahan argued Mitchell’s death was an accident during “rough, but consensual sex” involving erotic asphyxiation, and called pathologist Michael Baden and addiction medicine specialist Drew Pinsky.¹⁴ Judge Lagotta ordered McLeod to stand trial.

The case then took a procedural turn. The defense moved to dismiss, alleging prosecutors had failed to disclose more than 2,000 pages of evidence from Mitchell’s cell phone and computer for nearly a decade. According to prosecutors, that material included evidence of “graphic sexual experiences,” “bruising on Ms. Mitchell’s body,” and “BDSM related imagery.”¹⁴ The defense argued the records supported their theory and that their experts had been hampered without them at the first hearing. Balerio called the failure to turn over the evidence an “inadvertent mistake.”⁴

On June 27, 2025, prosecutors dismissed the existing case and immediately refiled the murder charge, giving the defense a fresh preliminary hearing at which the previously withheld material can be presented. McLeod pleaded not guilty again and remains in custody without bail.⁴

Where the Case Stands Now

The new preliminary hearing, initially expected in October 2025, has been rescheduled to June 17, 2026, in San Diego Superior Court.¹ No trial date has been set. If convicted, McLeod faces 25 years to life in state prison.⁴ He will next face a second determination of whether there is enough evidence to bring him to trial for Mitchell’s killing.

1
Angels of Justice. Court/Case Updates
2
NBC News. Murder, Manhunt, Grandmother Wouldn’t Stop Search for Daughter’s Killer
3
NBC San Diego. Fugitive Ex-Marine Accused of Murdering Girlfriend Hearing
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NBC San Diego. Ex-Marine Charged in Girlfriend’s Murder Preliminary Hearing
5
Court TV. Ex-Marine Faces Murder Trial in Girlfriend’s Strangulation Death
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U.S. Marshals Service. Raymond McLeod – 15 Most Wanted
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NBC San Diego. Wanted: $50K Reward for Ex-Marine Suspected in Girlfriend’s San Diego Killing
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FOX 29. US Marshals Capture Top 15 Most Wanted Murder Suspect Raymond RJ McLeod
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ABC News. Fugitive Marine Charged in Girlfriend’s Murder Ordered Held Without Bail
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NBC San Diego. Fugitive Wanted for Killing Krystal Mitchell in 2016 Arrested in El Salvador
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U.S. Marshals Service. US Marshals 15 Most Wanted Fugitive Captured in El Salvador
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ABC News. Woman’s ‘Mama Bear’ Instinct Led Authorities to Find Daughter’s Killer
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Times of San Diego. Dr. Drew Testifies but Trial Still Ordered for Ex-Marine Accused of Killing Girlfriend
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Court TV. Ex-Marine Charged in Girlfriend’s Strangulation Death Wants Case Dismissed