San Diego, CA: Man held for extradition to Mexico in wife's death

BY SUSAN SHRODER, UNION-TRIBUNE
MONDAY, MAY 23, 2011 AT 5:48 P.M.



SAN DIEGO — A U.S. citizen arrested in San Diego and accused of killing his wife in Baja California appeared in federal court Monday pending extradition to Mexico, authorities said.

According to a federal complaint, Victor Ernest Childs, 52, is wanted in the shooting death of his wife, Caryn Childs, at the couple’s home in San Felipe, U.S. Attorney Laura E. Duffy said.

Caryn Childs' decomposing body was found in Mexico on Dec. 20 with bullet holes in the front and back of her head, the complaint said.

Victor Childs was stopped in San Diego on Jan. 3 while driving a vehicle that belonged to his wife, the complaint said. A concealed firearm was found in the car. Childs was charged with vehicle theft and carrying a concealed weapon. A forensic analysis of the gun showed that the weapon matched the bullet casings found near his wife’s body.

The complaint states that Childs confessed to Mexican authorities that he killed his wife, but claimed that she gave him the gun, pressed his finger against the trigger, and begged him to shoot her because she was dying from an insulin injection.

Childs appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge William V. Gallo on Monday in San Diego and was held without bail pending another court hearing July 21.