Published: September 16, 2009 11:11 pm      

U.S. Marshals look to Oklahoma for Borden murder suspect

Clark County police received 45 tips after case featured on TV

U.S. Marshals are investigating reports that a man wanted in a 2005 Borden murder has been seen on horse farms in Oklahoma, Clark County Sheriff’s Department Detective Randy Burton said Wednesday.

Police received 45 tips regarding Juan Delarosa, also known as Raul Cruz, after America’s Most Wanted profiled the case in its Saturday night episode.

Delarosa is charged with murdering 36-year-old Ronald L. Miller. Both men worked on horse farms along Ind. 60 and Ind. 111 in Clark and Floyd counties.

According to the probable-cause affidavit, Delarosa beat Miller to death with a wooden bed post at a horse farm in Borden on May 25, 2005. Miller, who was from Pekin, died during a STAT flight to University Hospital in Louisville.

Investigators described the scene as one of the worst they had ever seen because of the brutality of the beating.

Burton was flown to the National Museum of Crime and Punishment in Washington, D.C., to answer calls Saturday night when the show aired. They began receiving information from callers around the country almost immediately, but not all of the tips were useful.

“Some were very vague. Some were like, ‘I saw him at a liquor store two hours ago,’” Burton said.

However, he said they received a couple of good tips out of Oklahoma, where people reported seeing Cruz on a horse farm. The U.S. Marshals are following up on those leads, Burton said.

Delarosa, who was known as a quality horse trainer, could be anywhere in the United States or in his native Mexico, authorities have said.

Burton said he is pleased that the case is receiving national attention.

“It was a good experience just to bring this case back to light,” he said.

Jenna Griffiths, producer of “America’s Most Wanted,” said the show became interested in the case in the fall when a family member contacted them about the case. She said information from the show leads to about one capture per week.

At the time of the murder, Delarosa was described as 5 feet 4 to 5 feet 6 inches tall and 130 to 140 pounds with dark hair and a medium complexion. He has at least a dozen known aliases.