Murder suspect, wanted since 2007, arrested during traffic stop

A man wanted for a murder in a crowded Fort Lauderdale bar more than 15 years ago was arrested during a traffic stop in the Panhandle on Sunday, according to the Walton County Sheriff ’s Office.

Jose Wilson Padilla-Padilla, 41, also known by the alias Wilson “El Tigre” Padilla-Diaz, passed another vehicle on a double yellow line on County Road 393 N near Santa Rosa Beach just before 6 p.m. Sunday, the Sheriff ’s Office said.

A deputy patrolling the road pulled him over in a white Nissan Altima. During the traffic stop, dispatchers notified the deputy that Padilla had an open warrant following a 2007 homicide in Fort Lauderdale.

Padilla is accused of shooting Wilson Zelaya, 28, of Plantation, four times at the International Sports Bar at 3927 Southwest 16th St. in downtown Fort Lauderdale on Oct. 20, 2007, according to the incident report. Police arrived on the scene a little after 1 a.m. that Saturday as 30 to 50 patrons rushed to the bar’s exit after hearing the gunshots.

A witness at the time told police that Zelaya had been telling people at the bar that he was going to kill Padilla’s brother, according to the incident report. Padilla’s brother had allegedly stolen Zelaya’s girlfriend, the witness said.

Zelaya and Padilla’s brother got into an altercation, and Zelaya “armed himself with two Corona beer bottles,” threatening to throw them at Padilla’s brother, when Padilla shot him, the witness said. Zelaya fell to the ground, and Padilla and his brother fled, according to the incident report.

Detectives spoke with Padilla’s girlfriend at the time, who had recently given birth to his child, but she said he had “become estranged” in the past month. Following the investigation, detectives issued a warrant for Padilla’s arrest.

Close to 14 years later, in May 2021, Fort Lauderdale Police met with a Broward Sheriff ’s Office detective and a special agent from the Department of Homeland Security, who had learned that Padilla had applied for a U.S. visa with a Honduran passport, and had been arrested and deported for entering the U.S. illegally multiple times.

A witness who was at the bar the night of the shooting told the two officials that he had run into Padilla in Honduras months after the murder, and that he was “gloating about the crime.”

Nearly two years after that, Padilla was arrested in Walton County on the out-of-county-warrant, as well as charges of driving without a license, the Sheriff ’s Office said. His wife, who came to the scene to take possession of his car, told deputies that the two had moved to Santa Rosa Beach less than a year ago. She said she had met Padilla in Mexico 12 years ago, which would have been about four years after the murder took place.

“Seems he fled the country following the incident, but we’re grateful to now have closure for the victim’s family,” Fort Lauderdale Police said in a tweet referencing the Walton County Sheriff ’s Office announcement.

Padilla was booked into Walton County Jail and is awaiting extradition to Broward County. He was also placed under an immigration hold.

Padilla-Padilla