via Foxnews.com
MAZATLAN, Mexico — A former priest who fled to Mexico to escape U.S. sex abuse charges died after jumping from the third-story balcony of a hotel as police closed in, authorities said Monday.
Siegfried F. Widera (search), 62, faced dozens of child molestation charges in California and Wisconsin.
Police surrounded the beachside hotel and planned to arrest Widera in this resort city on Mexico’s Pacific coast, the Mexican judicial authorities said.
Minutes after authorities arrived, Widera ran to the balcony of his room and jumped, said Marta Gutierrez, a spokesman for the attorney general’s office in Sinaloa state. She said it was unclear why he jumped, saying that he might have been trying to escape.
He died of head injuries Sunday on his way to a hospital, she said.