Miami-Dade

Crime

Husband accused of killing custodian at Gloria Floyd Elementary

 
 

Jesus Maqueira, shown in this booking photo, was arrested Friday, Feb. 8, 2013 and charged with the murder of his wife, Raquel Calderin, who went missing in September.
Jesus Maqueira, shown in this booking photo, was arrested Friday, Feb. 8, 2013 and charged with the murder of his wife, Raquel Calderin, who went missing in September.
Miami-Dade Corrections

dovalle@MiamiHerald.com

A five-month investigation into a South Florida woman’s disappearance ended with the arrest of her husband Friday on accusations of murder.

Jesus Maqueira, 54, was arrested early Friday and charged with first-degree murder and aggravated stalking, according to an arrest report by Miami-Dade homicide Det. Juan Segovia.

Maqueira’s wife, Raquel Maria Calderin, 42, disappeared on Sept. 4. She was last seen in a black Ford Expedition, driving away from Gloria Floyd Elementary School, where she worked as a custodian.

According to Segovia’s report, Maqueira and Calderin were married for more than 20 years. Maqueira had a history of domestic abuse, to the point that he put a GPS tracking device on Calderin’s car.

She filed for divorce last year.

The day Calderin disappeared, Maqueira showed up at Gloria Floyd Elementary and argued with her, asking her to call off the divorce and stay with him.

Calderin’s coworkers told police she was visibly upset for the rest of the day. Her supervisor allowed her to leave at 9:30 p.m.

Phone records show Calderin was still near the elementary school and talking on her cellphone at 9:36 p.m. when the line went dead. There has been no activity on her cellphone or with her bank accounts ever since, Segovia’s report states.

Calderin has not contacted any of her friends, family members or coworkers, according to the report. Friends and relatives told police she never misses special occasions such as Christmas or her children’s birthdays.

Based on that information, Miami-Dade police began investigating the disappearance as a homicide.

On Friday, Maqueira admitted to domestic abuse and stalking Calderin, police said.

Maqueira made conflicting statements that were disproved by cellphone records and statements from his children, whom he coached on how to respond to police during the investigation, according to the report. He had also physically abused them, police said.

Police said that when he was confronted with his children’s statements, he called them liars.

Maqueira has reportedly told people in the past that if he couldn’t have Calderin, no one could. Police said that when they asked him why he couldn’t give explanations for evidence against him, he replied, “Look, I killed her, so take me to jail.”

He then laughed, but refused to elaborate, police said.

Maqueira was arrested at 5:15 a.m. Friday and taken to the Dade County Jail.

Read more Miami-Dade stories from the Miami Herald

  •  

Ivanna Villanueva, in court  on May 17, 2013, with her lawyers, David O. Markus and  Margot Moss, flanking her, got a plea deal for the deadly crash that left an elderly woman dead. But after failing a drug test on June 18, 2013, her sentence may change.

    COURTS

    UM student in deadly DUI crash may get stiffer sentence

    A 21-year-old UM student convicted in a drunk driving crash that left an elderly woman dead may get a stiffer sentence after she allegedly failed a drug test in court.

  • TRANSPORTATION

    Toll hike remains on State Road 836

    An effort to roll back tolls on State Road 836 failed late Tuesday when the board of directors of the Miami-Dade Expressway Authority (MDX) voted 7-5 to keep in place a higher toll rate approved in March.

  •  

Eva Alexandra Countess Kendeffy

    Obama

    German Consul General nostalgic on Obama Berlin visit

    Eva Countess Kendeffy, the top German official in Florida who helped organize Obama’s previous visits to Germany, is nostalgic about Obama’s Berlin visit. She will retire at the end of June.

Miami Herald

Join the
Discussion

The Miami Herald is pleased to provide this opportunity to share information, experiences and observations about what's in the news. Some of the comments may be reprinted elsewhere on the site or in the newspaper. We encourage lively, open debate on the issues of the day, and ask that you refrain from profanity, hate speech, personal comments and remarks that are off point. Thank you for taking the time to offer your thoughts.

The Miami Herald uses Facebook's commenting system. You need to log in with a Facebook account in order to comment. If you have questions about commenting with your Facebook account, click here.

Have a news tip? You can send it anonymously. Click here to send us your tip - or - consider joining the Public Insight Network and become a source for The Miami Herald and el Nuevo Herald.

Hide Comments

This affects comments on all stories.

Cancel OK

  • Videos

  • Quick Job Search

Enter Keyword(s) Enter City Select a State Select a Category