Man Who Allegedly Killed Navy Seaman Arraigned After Extradition

UPDATE: According to the FBI, the man charged with the seaman's death, Cruz Edward Dominguez, is a U.S. citizen. The Government of Mexico worked closely with the Department of Justice, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, State Department, the FBI and U.S. Marshals Service on the probe into the 2002 death of the seaman, Joshua Allen Dietrich.

A man extradited from Mexico in connection with the 2002 stabbing death of a Navy seaman outside a Tijuana nightclub appeared before a U.S. magistrate judge in San Diego on Friday and was ordered held without bail. He is scheduled to be back in court July 19.

Cruz Edward Dominguez was taken into custody Thursday pursuant to a request by the government of Mexico for his arrest and extradition on charges of aggravated homicide.

Dominguez is accused of killing Navy seaman Joshua Allen Dietrich on June 9, 2002.

The complaint alleges that during a confrontation outside the Mystere nightclub on Avenida Revolucion, Dominguez stabbed Dietrich with a folding knife.

Dominguez’s arrest culminates a nine-year investigation involving substantial diplomatic efforts, complex international issues and extensive legal processes, prosecutors said.

A Navy Times article said Dietrich, a fireman apprentice aboard the amphibious transport dock Denver, was stabbed in the heart a week before he was to deploy to assist in Afghanistan war efforts.

City News Service contributed to this report.