GUADALUPE DE COBRE, Mexico, Nov. 13 (UPI) -- An elderly Mexican man has been arrested in the 1998 bludgeoning death of a woman he believed put a witch's curse on him, authorities said.

Santiago Iniguez Olivares, 78, is accused of killing Modesta Navarro Nieves and beating her husband in the western Mexican community of Guadalupe del Cobre, CNN reported.


Olivares allegedly walked into the woman's home, accused her of being a witch and beat her to death with a stick. Nieves' husband came home and Olivares allegedly began beating him before running out of the house, authorities say. The husband survived, the U.S. news network said.

After being on the run for 11 years, Olivares came back to Guadalupe del Cobre believing the killing had been forgotten. He was arrested while walking to a local bus station, prosecutors said Thursday.