Arrest warrant issued for ex-’Survivor’ producer in connection with wife’s death

Mexican authorities issued an arrest warrant Monday for Bruce Beresford- Redman, former producer of the “Survivor” reality show, in connection with the death of his wife at a Cancun resort, a Mexican official confirmed.

Francisco Antonio Alor Quezada, attorney general for the southern Mexican state of Quintana Roo, said a judge in Cancun had issued an “order of arrest” against Beresford in connection with the crime of “qualified homicide” in the death of his wife, Monica Beresford-Redman, 41, who apparently was strangled.

“The order of arrest is confirmed,” Alor said in a telephone interview from Mexico.

The wife died of “asphyxia by suffocation,” Alor said.

Beresford-Redman, 39, who is back in the United States, has denied any involvement in his wife’s death.

In a statement issued Monday by his attorney, Richard G. Hirsch, Beresford-Redman said he was “incensed at the suggestion that I could have had anything to do with her death.”

“I am innocent,” he said in the statement. “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.”

Alor said authorities would pursue extradition if necessary and that Interpol, the international police agency, would be informed. But he added that Mexican officials were unaware of the suspect’s whereabouts.

“As far as we’re concerned, he’s still in Mexico,” Alor said.

His wife’s body was found April 8 in a septic tank at the luxury hotel where they were staying. Her family says they were trying to repair their marriage, but his family says they were in Mexico for a regular vacation arranged by her.

Authorities in Mexico seized Beresford-Redman’s passport and Mexican immigration documents after the body was found, Alor said. Police questioned him and he agreed to remain in Mexico while the matter was under investigation, Alor said.

However, Beresford-Redman returned to the United States and is living at his family home in Rancho Palos Verdes with the couple’s two children, Camilla, 5, and Alec, 3, and his parents. How he reentered the country without a passport was not clear.

His lawyer has said Beresford-Redman was under no obligation to remain in Mexico. The news of an arrest warrant, Hirsch said, “is extremely disturbing since it appears that this case is being handled in a manner outside the normal procedures in Mexico.”

He said he feared “a rush to judgment” because such cases usually involve “a detailed judicial review that takes anywhere from several weeks to several months.”

The Emmy-nominated producer, best known for his work on two hit reality shows — CBS’ “Survivor” and MTV’s “Pimp My Ride” — reported his wife missing April 6 in Mexico. He told Mexican police he had last seen her the previous day, when she had left their hotel to go shopping.

Hirsch suggested last week that her death might be connected to several killings that have occurred in the Cancun area.

Hirsch had said that Beresford-Redman returned to Los Angeles to be with his children and to attend to family and personal matters.

A memorial service for Monica Beresford-Redman was held Sunday.

patrick.mcdonnell@latimes.com