San Jose Police Department (SJPD) announced today, the arrest of 33-year-old Noel Cortez, suspected of being responsible for the eerie homicide that shook the city back in 2022. As reported by the SJPD, officers were called to the 300 block of Umbarger Road on July 31, 2022, around 3:55 AM, where they discovered an adult male victim who was pronounced dead at the scene. A second adult male victim managed to transport himself to a local hospital for treatment for non-life-threatening injuries. At the time, little was known about the motive or circumstances surrounding this chilling crime.

(SJPD)

As luck would have it, Cortez was apprehended by SJPD on September 13, 2022, for an unrelated warrant out of Arizona, leading to his extradition to the Arizona State Prison Complex. Following extensive follow-up investigations, San Jose detectives were finally able to link Cortez to the 2022 homicide and obtained a warrant for his arrest. On June 28, 2023, detectives took custody of Cortez at the Arizona State Prison and extradited him back to San Jose, where he was subsequently booked into Santa Clara County Main Jail for homicide.