Reality TV producer accused of killing wife in Mexico arrested
An Emmy-nominated reality TV producer accused of killing his wife at a Cancun resort earlier this year was arrested Tuesday by U.S. authorities at his Rancho Palos Verdes home.
Bruce Beresford- Redman, 38, was home alone at the time of his arrest and offered no resistance to the U.S. marshals and FBI agents who took him into custody. His arrest comes five months after Mexican authorities accused him of murdering his wife.
Monica Beresford-Redman, 41, co-owner of Zabumba, a popular eatery and nightclub in Palms, was found April 8 in a septic tank at the luxury hotel where the couple was staying. Mexican officials said the woman died of “asphyxia by suffocation.”
Bruce Beresford-Redman said he last saw his wife the morning of April 5 when she left to go shopping. He reported her missing that night.
Family members have said that the couple went to Mexico with their two children in an effort to shore up their troubled marriage, which had become strained after Monica Beresford-Redman discovered her husband had had an affair. Her body was found on her 42nd birthday, the day the couple was scheduled to return home. An autopsy indicated that she had died April 5.
The hotel staff reported seeing the couple fighting, and several guests told authorities they heard arguing coming from their room. Bruce Beresford-Redman had scratches on his neck, police said.
After he was questioned by Mexican police, Beresford-Redman was instructed to stay in Mexico. His children returned to the United States without him. But in May, Beresford-Redman’s attorney issued a statement saying that his client had returned to California to be with his children and attend to personal matters. A week later, Mexican authorities issued an arrest warrant for him.
“I am innocent,” Beresford-Redman said at the time. “My children have had one parent taken from them by a senseless act of violence. I implore the Mexican authorities not to take their remaining parent by a miscarriage of justice.”
The former “Survivor” producer and co-creator of MTV’s “Pimp My Ride” is scheduled to appear Wednesday in U.S. District Court in downtown Los Angeles. Sources familiar with the case say it could take months or even years before Beresford-Redman is extradited to Mexico to face trial.
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