Marshalls move accused murderer from Puerto Rico to Watertown

Ramon Robles-Ruiz, 29, the accused killer of Annette Y. Vazquez last December, was handed over to Watertown police this afternoon by U.S. Marshalls at Poughkeepsie, and was being driven back to Jefferson County for jailing.

City police said he is named in a sealed grand jury indictment charging him with murder. He will be held in the Metro-Jefferson Public Safety Building, with arraignment anticipated for Thursday in Jefferson County County.

Robles was released Oct. 27 from a jail in Puerto Rico, where he had served a sentence for an unrelated crime, and was taken into custody there by the Marshall's Service. He was flown to Poughkeepsie, where at 3:30 this afternoon he was handed over to Detective Stephen R. Backus and Warrant Officer Roy E. Whitmore.

Ms. Vazquez, 33, had a live-in relationship with Robles at 657 Olive St. until shortly before her disappearance on Dec. 8. She failed that afternoon to pick up her two daughters, ages 12 and 6, at school, and later that day police found her car abandoned in a parking lot on State Street.

A search for her ended on March 23, when her remains were found in a gutter off Vrooman Hill Road in the town of Antwerp. Robles had meanwhile been questioned in Puerto Rico by two detectives, one from Watertown and one from state police. Although city police declined comment, a U.S. Marshall told the Times that Robles provided police with information about where to find the body.