Telford Man Caught in Honduras Months After Slashing Girlfriend's Throat, Hiding Her Body

A man accused of slashing his girlfriend's throat and stuffing her body in a bedroom closet inside their Telford apartment has been captured in Honduras, more than five months after he allegedly fled the country on a one-way ticket. Darwin David Espinal-Del Cid was taken into custody early Monday in Pespire, a municipality in southern Honduras, with help from Honduran law enforcement and the FBI.

Espinal-Del Cid is accused of stabbing his girlfriend, 23-year-old Maria Bernarda Popol Garcia, to death inside the apartment the couple shared on North Main Street, a road that runs along the line dividing Bucks and Montgomery counties in the small borough of Telford, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer. As reported by CBS Philadelphia, neighbors reported hearing a loud argument inside the apartment on March 7, and Bucks County District Attorney Joe Khan said that argument was the last time Popol Garcia was known to be alive. Investigators allege Espinal-Del Cid slashed her throat that day, per the district attorney's account relayed to the station.

A Cover-Up Built on Stolen Texts

Popol Garcia had reportedly begun moving her belongings out of the apartment and was planning to leave Espinal-Del Cid, according to CBS Philadelphia's reporting. After her death, prosecutors allege Espinal-Del Cid moved her body into a bedroom closet to conceal the crime, wrapping it in a blanket and covering it with clothing, per investigators. He then allegedly used her stolen Android cellphone to pose as her in text messages sent to friends and relatives, creating the illusion she was still alive while he secured travel funds and prepared to leave the country.

Prosecutors say Espinal-Del Cid stole $400 in cash along with the phone before booking a one-way flight out of the United States, departing for Honduras on March 9, according to a report from Philly Crime Update. Popol Garcia's family grew worried when they hadn't heard from her for nearly a week, and the Palisades Park Police Department in New Jersey received a report on March 13 that her relatives could not reach her. The next day, Telford Borough police went to her apartment and found her body wrapped in a blanket and covered in clothing inside the bedroom closet — discovered one day before what would have been her 23rd birthday.

Victim Had Recently Immigrated for Work

Popol Garcia, a Guatemalan national, had immigrated to the United States two years earlier seeking economic opportunity and was working as a server at a local Latin American restaurant and grocery store in Telford, according to the Bucks County District Attorney's Office. Her parents remained in Guatemala while extended family lived in New Jersey and Texas. Following the discovery of her body, her family launched a public fundraiser to help cover the cost of repatriating her remains to her parents, according to Fox 29 Philadelphia. An autopsy ruled her death a homicide, per Khan.

District Attorney Khan, who took office in January as Bucks County's 35th district attorney and the first Democrat elected to the post since the 19th century, said the loss of a young woman highlights the lethal nature of domestic violence. He added that authorities remain relentless in pursuing justice for Maria. Khan previously served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney and Bucks County Solicitor before his election.

Deportation History and a Long Manhunt

Honduran ATIC Director Comisario Ángel Murillo said Espinal-Del Cid had previously been deported from the United States to Honduras before returning to Pennsylvania, and confirmed the suspect had no active criminal warrants inside Honduras at the time of his arrest, according to Infobae. It remains unclear how he re-entered the U.S. after that prior deportation. He remained on the run until agents from Honduras' Technical Agency for Criminal Investigation, working alongside the FBI, tracked him down Monday.

A Honduran First Instance Extradition Judge issued a provisional arrest order for Espinal-Del Cid on Monday and scheduled his formal extradition hearing for September 2 at 10 a.m. while he is held in Tegucigalpa, according to Proceso Digital. It's not yet clear how long the extradition process will take before Espinal-Del Cid can be returned to Bucks County to face charges. Once back in Pennsylvania, he faces criminal homicide, possession of an instrument of crime, theft by unlawful taking, theft by deception, and abuse of a corpse charges, according to the Bucks County District Attorney's Office.

A Broader Pattern of Domestic Violence

The case adds to a grim tally of domestic violence in Bucks County. In 2024, the county recorded 770 new Protection from Abuse order filings, roughly 2% of the 41,980 such filings across Pennsylvania that year, according to data compiled by Williams Family Law, P.C. citing the state's Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts. Those civil protective orders are meant to shield intimate partners from ongoing abuse before it turns deadly.

For now, Espinal-Del Cid remains held in Honduras awaiting the outcome of the extradition process that will determine when — and whether — he faces trial in Bucks County. Whether he will be represented by public defenders or private counsel once he returns to Pennsylvania has not been disclosed.