A man whose business partner was involved in a failed Berthold housing development and one who visited Berthold at least one time, has been arrested in El Salvador and is going on trial in San Diego in May.
Raymond Mcleod Jr., is accused of killing his girlfriend Krystal Mitchel in San Diego on June 10, 2016, then fleeing the United States.

Mcleod and Mitchell both lived in Phoenix and traveled to southern California to visit a friend of Mcleod’s. That friend found Mitchell’s body the following day and after six months had passed, the U.S. Marshals Service placed Mcleod on its 15 most wanted list and offered a $50,000 reward for his capture.

On Aug. 29, 2022, a tip received by El Salvadorian officials indicated he was teaching English in a school in Sosonate, El Salvador under the alias Jack Donovan. He was taken into custody, extradited to the United States and will go on trial May 28 in San Diego County District Court. Mcleod has pleaded not guilty to a murder charge.

When he was captured, he was carrying a Canadian passport and told his “students” he was Canadian. It isn’t known yet how he obtained the passport, but he is not a Canadian citizen. He may have used the identity of Raymond Mcleod, a Canadian Football League player who died 10 days after the murder.
One of Mcleod’s students who was interviewed by a San Diego TV station, said Mcleod always wore long-sleeve shirts, it is assumed, to cover identifying tattoos and he never drove a car.

Although Mcleod’s link to Berthold is obscure, he did attend at least one Berthold City Council meeting with his partner Alex Gregg, who was spearheading a housing development east of town called Prairie Rose Estates.
McLeod and Gregg had been partners in a roofing company in Phoenix. Court records in Maricopa County indicate Gregg and Mcleod preyed on the elderly, providing estimates and charging home owners for roof repairs that were often non-existent.

Mcleod wasn’t part of the Berthold development, but his father, Raymond Mcleod Sr., was. Mcleod Sr., was a financial partner of Gregg and had also visited with the Berthold City Council about the housing development that never really got off the ground.

It is also strongly believed by the San Diego Police Department that it was Mcleod Sr., who gave his son thousands of dollars and a rental car to leave the United States and travel into Mexico. Days after the murder, Mcleod’s rental car was located in Mazatlan, Mexico.

So even though he was being considered an accessory to his son’s escape, less than a month after Raymond Mcleod Jr. was captured without incident, Raymond Mcleod Sr.’s obituary appeared in a Phoenix newspaper. The cause of death wasn’t released to the public. He was 69 years old.

Mcleod Jr. spent a hitch in the Marine Corps., and was said to have a violent temper. An ex girlfriend has testified to that behavior. Mcleod was also a bodybuilder and was considered extremely dangerous.
On the night of the murder, eyewitnesses said Mcleod and another man got into an altercation in a San Diego bar after Mcleod slapped Mitchel. He was later seen on surveillance video slapping Mitchel again as they entered an elevator. That was the last time Mitchel, a young mother of two, was seen alive.

Mitchel’s mother, Josephine Wentzel, led an exhaustive search to find Mcleod and bring him to justice. Wentzel, who grew up on Guam and later became a Tacoma, Wash., police officer, led an independent search to find her daughter’s killer.

The San Diego Police Department has acknowledged that Wentzel was instrumental in the capture of Mcleod, but didn’t say why, or whether or not she collected the reward. Wentzel spent years talking to the media and worked closely with San Diego PD regarding leads on Mcleod’s case. She even took a social media course and posted wanted ads on social media platforms.

In addition, Wentzel has filed a civil lawsuit looking to hold Mcleod financially responsible. Meanwhile, Gregg, who was facing heavy pressure in Arizona and North Dakota, is believed to have committed suicide and is buried in Waco, Texas.

Mcleod has been formally charged with murder and if convicted, faces 25 years to life in prison.