Man Gets 40 Years In 1997 Downers Grove Slaying

Caption: Jose Ruvalcaba, 37, of Joliet, was sentenced to 40 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections in a 17-year-old murder for hire slaying of a Drowners Grove man. | DuPage County Sheriff

Justice delayed wasn’t justice denied in a 17-year-old, Downers Grove murder-for-hire case, the DuPage County State’s Attorney announced

Jose Ruvalcaba, 37, of Joliet was sentenced to 40 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections. It took a jury just 45 minutes to find the Joliet man guilty of first degree murder after a two-day-long trial in September.

According to the allegations, Ruvalcaba lay in wait behind the garage then 39-year-old Jose Ortiz, of Downers Grove, to leave for work. When Ortiz left for work, Ruvalcaba stepped from behind the garage and ambushed him, shooting the Ortiz in the chest.

DuPage County Sheriff’s deputies responded to the shooting within minutes and transported Ortiz to a local hospital where he passed away from his injuries, the state’s attorney said.

Ruvalcaba fled Illinois to South Carolina where he lived as a free man for the next 15 years. Investigators continued to work on the case. In 2008, a $5 million arrest warrant was issued for Ruvalcaba’s arrest. He was apprehended in 2012 and extradited to DuPage County to face the charges against him. He has been in custody ever since.

“For nearly seventeen years, justice has been patiently waiting for Jose Ruvalcaba,” DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin said in a written statement. “I would like to commend DuPage County Sheriff John Zaruba and his deputies for never giving up on finding justice for Jose Ortiz. While Mr. Ruvalcaba has been able to avoid responsibility for his actions for a very long time, his days of living as a free man are now over. Jose Ruvalcaba will now be held responsible for the senseless murder of Jose Ortiz.”