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(DAILY_WILDCAT)

By Keith J. Allen
Arizona Daily Wildcat
April 7, 1997

A couple first arrested at UA charged in South Tucson murder

A man and woman arrested by the University of Arizona Police Department March 26 after an attempted bike theft was reported have been charged with the murder of a South Tucson man.

Manuel "Pancho" Urquidez, 37, of the 300 block of West Veterans Boulevard, and Melissa P. Wylie, 29, of a general delivery address, were arrested on charges of first-degree murder, said Sgt. Jerry Morgan, a South Tucson Police Department spokesman.

Morgan said Urquidez was arrested Thursday while in custody at Pima County Jail, and Wylie was arrested Friday and booked into Pima County Jail.

South Tucson police found Michael Hill, 33, of the 5500 block of North Valley View Road, murdered March 26 about 6 a.m. in front of a residence in the 100 block of East 31st Street, Morgan said.

University police found Urquidez and Wylie after a male UA employee told police he saw a man attempting to steal a bike March 26 about 5:43 a.m. near the Steward Observatory Mirror Lab, 547 N. Warren Ave. University police stopped the two suspects in a pickup truck in conjunction with the attempted theft.

University police had to forcibly remove Urquidez from the truck, and Urquidez kicked a UAPD police officer numerous times while police tried to put him in a patrol car, police reports stated.

University police arrested Urquidez March 26 on charges of aggravated assault on a police officer, criminal damage, possession of drug paraphernalia, theft and attempted theft.

Wylie was arrested on charges of possession of a concealed weapon and disturbing the peaceful conduct of an educational institution, but she had been released by Pretrial Services.

After a search of city towing yards, South Tucson police located Hill's pickup truck, the same truck Urquidez and Wylie were driving when stopped by university police, Morgan said. He said university police had no idea about the truck and the murder when they arrested Urquidez and Wylie because the times of the reports were so close together.

Morgan said blood was found in the truck.

South Tucson police do not know the reason for Hill's murder, Morgan said.

"We're still tying up loose ends," he said.

Morgan said the South Tucson police eventually would have found the truck and the two people charged with Hill's murder even if UAPD would not have come across them.

Morgan could not comment on the cause of Hill's death because it also is still under investigation.


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