After decades, a cold case murder confession in New Jersey comes from a man who found God
For more than three decades, the unsolved home invasion murder of Mauricio Cuadra in Bayonne, New Jersey, haunted investigators and left a family without answers. Then, in August 2024, a man walked into a police station in Locust Grove, Georgia — more than 700 miles from the crime scene — carrying his medications and personal belongings, prepared not to return home.
Joseph Quiros-Soto, now 62, told authorities he was the one who killed 48-year-old Cuadra on August 9, 1989. According to court documents, Cuadra was in his apartment with his girlfriend and her two young daughters when an intruder kicked in the door. Cuadra grabbed a crowbar to defend himself, but the attacker put him in a headlock and shot him in the head during the struggle.
What finally broke the decades-long silence, Quiros-Soto said, was his faith. A self-described born-again Christian who had been attending a local church and participating in a men's group, he told investigators that his pastor encouraged him to do the right thing. That push, he said, led him to confess.
Locust Grove Police Chief Derrick Austin told CNN the initial confession was hard to believe. “It was so far-fetched, but then on the other hand, he was so detailed, we were like, ‘This could be real,’” Austin said. Quiros-Soto provided specific details about the home invasion that had never been publicly released — details, court documents note, that “would only be known by the killer.”
The case underscores how cold cases, even after decades, can suddenly crack when a suspect’s personal circumstances shift. For Quiros-Soto, the transformation came through religion. Investigators say he appeared calm and remorseful during interviews. “To me, it was just like he had been carrying this weight,” Austin added. “It was almost like a relief for him to just tell somebody.”
New Jersey detectives traveled to Georgia to question Quiros-Soto, who voluntarily participated and waived his Miranda rights. He also provided a DNA sample that matched biological evidence from a stain on Cuadra’s sweatpants from 1989. The match, authorities said, was a key piece of forensic confirmation linking him to the crime.
The Spalding County Sheriff’s Office arrested Quiros-Soto at his home in Griffin, Georgia, on May 27 — nearly two years after his initial confession. Austin explained the delay was necessary to verify his statements throughout the investigation. Quiros-Soto is currently being held in Georgia pending transfer to New Jersey authorities, according to the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office.
He was charged in May with murder and murder during the commission of a burglary. It’s unclear whether he has an attorney. Authorities have declined to release additional details about a possible motive, citing the ongoing investigation. The Bayonne Police Department did not respond to requests for comment.
The case highlights the rare intersection of faith and criminal justice, where a decades-old mystery finally yields not through forensic breakthroughs alone, but through a suspect’s own moral reckoning. For the family of Mauricio Cuadra, the confession may bring a long-awaited sense of closure — however painful.