A North Carolinaman wanted on murder chargesin connection with his wife’s death was arrested in Arizona near the Mexican border, PEOPLE confirms.
Rexford Lynn Keel Jr., was taken into custody Sunday, two days after it was announced the 57-year-old was wanted for the murder of his wife,Diana Alejandra Keel,Nash County Sheriff Keith Stone said at a press conference Sunday.
On Tuesday, Diana’s body was found in the woods, and he was declared a person of interest. On Friday, authorities announced he was wanted for first-degree murder.
Diana Keel/Instagram
Stone told reporters Diana had been stabbed to death,WRAL,WGMEandCBS17report. A sheriff’s offfice spokesperson tells PEOPLE it was a “violent death.”
Lynn Keel.Nash County Sheriff’s Office
• Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Clickhereto get breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases in the True Crime Newsletter.
This is the second wife of Keel’s to die.
On Jan. 1, 2006, authorities conducted an investigation into the death of his first wife, Elizabeth Edward Keel, according to a Nash County Sheriff’s Office press release.
Elizabeth’s death was ruled accidental. She died of blunt trauma to the head after falling and hitting her forehead on the home’s concrete steps. Keel was home at the time of the incident, which took place at the same home from which Diana was reported missing, a Nash County spokesperson previously told PEOPLE.
On Sunday, Stone told reporters investigators were going to “go back and look” at the death of Keel’s first wife, WRAL, WGME and CBS17 report.
Nash County Sheriff’s Office
Keel is expected to appear in court Monday afternoon on a fugitive warrant, the sheriff’s office spokesperson says. He is awaiting extradition. Keel and Diana shared a 10-year-old son who is staying with relatives.
“What a sad and traumatic experience this is,” Stone said, WRAL reports.
source: people.com
