Anthony Burroughs is hiding in the Philippines. US DEP’T OF JUSTICE
LOS ANGELES — A Filipino American accused of fatally shooting a man during a house party in Tucson, Arizona, 16 years ago remains at large after fleeing to the Philippines.
Police hope the public might have information leading to the capture of Anthony Burroughs, who was last seen at a strip club in Metro Manila, according to sources for CNN’s The Hunt with John Walsh. The 5’7”, 200 lb 37-year-old, who has his last name tattooed on his back, fled the U.S. after allegedly killing Ruben Rodriguez on April 29, 2000.
“I was told it was over a girl,” Rodriguez’s ex-girlfriend, Melinda Ochoa told CNN.
Traded blows
Witnesses say the two men met for the first time that night and wound up trading blows. After the fistfight, Rodriguez had reportedly helped Burroughs get up from the ground. He then shot Rodriguez in the shoulder as the victim walked away from the suspect. The wound destroyed Rodriguez’s carotid artery, according to Tucson Police Detective, Tom Stewart.
Burroughs had also shot himself in the foot during the incident. With the help of his girlfriend and another accomplice, he sought medical attention in Mexico, supposedly to avoid alerting law enforcement of his whereabouts. American Customs officials stopped the fugitive’s car as he reentered the country, but eventually released him. He was then able to board a plane in Phoenix, Arizona and escape to the Philippines.
Police continued to work on the case, but Burroughs’s trail grew cold over the years.
Misinformation
“There were a lot of people giving misinformation,” Stewart told CNN. “At a certain point, over the years, you run out of people to talk to.”
Then, well over a decade after Rodriguez’s death, a confidential source in the Philippines gave investigators a critical lead. In 2014, police learned that Burroughs’s mother — who is originally from Iloilo, Philippines — had been sending money to her son overseas, and were able to obtain a warrant to search her home. Officers spent 14 hours looking for clues before finding a collection of letters sent by Burroughs from the Philippines.
“We very much believe that Anthony’s mother has tipped him off and drove him back underground,” Deputy U.S. Marshall Jen Rippey told CNN. “We also believe she is still financing him in some way, shape or form.”
Gangster wannabe
She described the suspect as a “wannabe” who glamorized the gangster lifestyle. He had a criminal record for theft and assaulting his girlfriend, and was known to usually have a gun on his person. Tattoos decorate ¾ of both of his arms, in addition to his upper back and chest.
Rodriguez was 19 and had just landed a sales job in a jewelry store at the time of his death, according to his mother, Sandra Medina. He joined a gang during high school, and wound up in juvenile detention after being caught with a small amount of drugs, according to CNN. He was released after turning 18.
“That’s when he started changing,” Medina told CNN. “Ruben didn’t want to be involved with these people anymore.”
Since discovering Burroughs’s letters to his mother, deputy U.S. Marshals have been dispatched to the Philippines. They are working with local authorities to track the suspect, who was last seen in May of 2014.