Aug. 13--A 57-year-old man living in Florida was arrested this week on charges he murdered his girlfriend in his Logan Square apartment nearly four decades ago.
Detectives from the Martin County Sheriff's Office in Stuart, Fla., and Chicago police arrested Alvaro Flores on Tuesday, according to the sheriff's office.
Chicago authorities have alleged for years that Flores killed 26-year-old Maria Verela on Nov. 13, 1978. Officials have said Flores, then 21, stabbed Verela in the apartment in the 3400 block of West McLean Avenue after she said she was breaking off their relationship and reconciling with her husband.
Chicago police secured a warrant for Flores' arrest in February 1979, but by then, Flores had disappeared.
Authorities scored a break in the case about 22 years later when Flores -- who had married, had three children and was living some 1,300 miles away -- applied for a concealed weapon permit.
He applied for the permit under his assumed name, Aiden Garcia, and the FBI ran his fingerprints as part of a routine background check. That inquiry showed that Aiden Garcia actually was Alvaro Flores, and he was arrested.
Just six weeks later, Flores was released from custody after Cook County prosecutors found they could not locate any witnesses to Verela's killing and so did not have enough evidence to pursue the case.
What happened since then to lead to Flores' arrest was not known. The Cook County state's attorney's office could not immediately be reached.
Flores is being held without bond in Martin County.
cdrhodes@tribpub.com
