Cold Case: Suspect arrested 19 years later for killing of Anaheim man

ANAHEIM, Calif. - A nearly 20 year cold case in Anaheim has been solved. 

Houston resident, 47-year-old Leopoldo Vargas Serrano, was taken into custody in Texas last month by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, and is charged with killing 21-year-old Luis Garcia Bucio of Anaheim on Oct. 16, 2000, according to the Anaheim Police Department.

Bucio was shot to death during an argument with Serrano on October 16, 2000. Investigators say the two were co-workers and the shooting happened in front of a business on the 1600 block of North Miller Street. 

On November 2, 2000, an arrest warrant was issued for Serrano, but detectives were unsuccessful in locating him. 

In the early months of 2019, Anaheim cold case detectives and the Orange County District Attorney’s TracKRS Unit received information that Serrano was living in Houston, Texas under a different name. 

On September 11, 2019, Anaheim detectives served a search warrant at his home in Houston. Police say on that same day Serrano was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents for unlawful entry into the U.S. 

After he was arrested by ICE agents, the Orange County District Attorney’s Science and Technology Unit used ‘Rapid DNA technology’ to confirm is identity. 

On October 10th Anaheim detectives took custody of Serrano from the United States Marshals and transported him back to Orange County where he is being held on a $1 million bail.