Murder Suspect Sought by Mexico Is Stabbed to Death in Oceanside

A construction worker who was wanted for murder in the Mexican state of Oaxaca died Saturday of stab wounds reportedly inflicted during a fight in east Oceanside, police said.

Julian Hernandez Villanueva, 28, of Oceanside, was pronounced dead by officials at Palomar Medical Center at 1:46 a.m., the San Diego County coroner’s office reported. Deputy Coroner Robert Engel said the victim had been stabbed several times and beaten.

Detective Oscar Mayo said Hernandez was found bleeding at the scene of a fight outside a 7-Eleven store on College Boulevard late Friday. Mayo said at least two others were injured in the fracas, and that one man, whose identity was not available, was at Scripps Hospital in La Jolla with a gunshot wound.

Mayo said witnesses told police that Hernandez was wanted by authorities in the Oaxacan town of San Jorge Nuchita in connection with the April, 1987, stabbing death of his father-in-law. Mayo said he confirmed the report with Mexican authorities.

Hernandez, who had amnesty papers, had no permanent address but lived in the agricultural fields even though he was not an farm worker. No weapons used in the Oceanside fight have been found, and the investigation is continuing, Mayo said.