In 2003, Florida fisherman Jesus Mezquia, who had come from Cuba in 1980 in the Mariel boatlift,[12] was arrested in connection with Zapata's murder. DNA evidence was used to tie him to the murder and charges were brought against him.[13] A DNA profile was extracted from saliva found on Zapata's body and kept in cold storage until the STR technology was developed for full extraction. An original entry in 2001 failed to generate a positive result, but Mezquia's DNA entered the national CODIS database after he was arrested in Florida for burglary and domestic abuse in 2002.[11] He had a history of violence toward women including domestic abuse, burglary, assault, and battery.