ALTON, Ill. — The main suspect in the investigation of a 2010 Alton murder pleaded guilty Wednesday morning, a St. Clair County, Illinois court said.
The man, 56-year-old Odilon Villagran-Gudino, was accused of killing Jose Randolfo Pagoada in Alton 13 years ago before fleeing to Mexico, court records show.
Villagran-Gudino reportedly cut Pagoda's throat on Dec. 1, 2010 before boarding an El Conejo bus to Mexico the next day. He attempted to conceal the murder by storing Pagoda's body in the trunk of an abandoned car at a vacant Alton property.
Pagoda's body wouldn't be discovered until August 2014, court records show. His body wasn't properly identified until FBI personnel were able to reconstruct his face.
Villagran-Gudino was arrested in Mexico in April 2021 and was transferred into the custody of US authorities by the Mexican government on May 16, 2023. He was originally charged in Madison County, but the case was moved to St. Clair County due to information gained during his confession with the Alton Police Department.
Cathy MacElroy, the chief public defender in Saint Clair County who was on the defense team, said the case "virtually every law enforcement agency on the planet," including Interpol, the DOJ, the FBI, the State Department, the US Marshals, the Mexican government and multiple local law enforcement agencies.
Villagran-Gudino's plea comes with a sentence of 20 years in prison followed by mandatory deportation from the United States. He would then be banned from ever entering the United States again.
"The family of Jose Randolfo Pagoada can never be made whole from the brutal and sudden loss of their loved one," a press release from the court said. "The disrespect shown to their loved one’s remains by Villagran-Gudino is unthinkable, and their questions about Pagoada’s whereabouts went unanswered because of the calloused indifference of his killer. We hope that the outcome of this investigation and prosecution gives them some closure."
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