After three years on the run, Mexico’s ‘Black Widow’ is caught in Acapulco luxury hotel

A woman accused of having her husband and two stepchildren killed over a US$19.5 million inheritance was arrested on July 20 after three years on the run. Berenice Alanís, nicknamed the Black Widow by the Mexican press, was arrested in a luxurious hotel in the popular Mexican resort of Acapulco. The Mexico City Attorney General has charged her with masterminding the murder of her husband, Jacobo Quesada, and his two sons, shot to death in a gym owned by the family on April 5, 2019.

“Our painstaking investigation has led to the arrest and prosecution of Berenice ‘N’ for the crime of intentional homicide by firearm, following the Mexico City Attorney General’s order issued on December 20, 2019,” said the Facebook post from the Attorney General for the state of Guerrero. After the arrest was announced, the authorities released a photo of a bewildered and handcuffed Alanís dressed in beach attire.

Alanís was initially arrested soon after the crime was committed in April 2019, but a judge released her due to irregularities in the case. According to local press reports, when Alanis was released, she absconded with a collection of luxury cars belonging to her wealthy husband. Authorities are investigating whether she sold those vehicles to finance her three-year run from justice.

Jacobo Quesada met Alanís in 2003 when he hired her to clean his house. A romantic relationship developed between the two and they later married. When Quesada accused Alanis of being unfaithful, he decided to cut her out of his will. Quesada owned numerous properties and businesses, and had amassed a fortune estimated at US$19.5 million. After being stripped of the inheritance, Alanis put the wheels in motion to have her husband killed.

On the night of April 5, 2019, Quesada and his children, Patricia and Jacobo Jr. were at a gym when Alanis arrived to work out. Quesada snapped a photo of her in gym clothes that he shared on social media. Moments later, an armed man came in and shot Quesada and his two children. The unidentified shooter has remained at large ever since.