Murder City: Ciudad Juarez and the Global Economy's New Killing Fields (37 page)

JANUARY

El Diario, Ciudad Juárez,
January 1, 2008

State agents know the nickname of the murderer. “El Popeye” shot César Seáñez to death in Colonia Chaveña Sunday night. The assassin, known by the nickname “El Popeye,” at this time has not been arrested by the Ministerial Police.

El Diario, Ciudad Juárez,
January 3, 2008

EXECUTED MAN IDENTIFIED IN PASEO TRIUNFO

The man shot to death in his car on the Avenida Paseo Triunfo de la Republica was identified yesterday by his family. The victim, Ernesto Romero Adame, 33, bled to death from bullet wounds in his neck, face and thorax. One bullet perforated his aorta, causing rapid death, said the spokesman for the State Prosecutor’s Office, Mario Ruiz Nava. The homicide occurred on December 31, 2007 at 3:00 A.M. in the Avenida Paseo Triunfo de la Republica. . . . According to witnesses, the victim was pursued by an armed commando traveling in several late-model vehicles until they caught up with him in front of a hotel.

La Polaka, Ciudad Juárez,
January 5, 2008

FIRST LITTLE DEATH OF THE DAY

A homeless man was found this morning with his head destroyed by a large rock next to a wall in the Colonia Hidalgo. The first murder this Saturday occurred at 9:00 in the morning. . . . The body was thrown into some abandoned ruins near the corner of Costa Rica and Tepeyac . . . causing alarm to the neighbors who said they were fed up with the crime in the zone and the lack of police protection.

El Diario, Ciudad Juárez,
January 10, 2008

TUESDAY’S MURDER VICTIM WAS A JUNKMAN

The man executed by gunfire in front of a dozen workers at a construction site Tuesday afternoon in the
ejido
Salvárcar was identified yesterday by his family. The victim, Rodolfo Martinez Vazquez, 32, was apparently the owner of a junkyard.

La Polaka, Ciudad Juárez,
January 12, 2008

JUST 16 THIS MONTH

This morning the mutilated body of another executed man was found along with two other gang members murdered during the night. The 16th homicide victim of the month was found this morning about 1:30 in a field near the intersection of Sabino Hinostrosa and Ejercito Nacional.

El Diario, Ciudad Juárez,
January 14, 2008

18 INTENTIONAL HOMICIDES IN 13 DAYS; TWO KILLED YESTERDAY
Two men were killed in separate incidents yesterday. The first victim died from several bullet wounds, presumably from a group of gangsters, and the other person was stabbed to death apparently during a robbery attempt. These crimes bring to 18 the total intentional homicides committed in Ciudad Juárez in the first 13 days of 2008.

El Diario, Ciudad Juárez,
January 17, 2008

385 ARREST WARRANTS FOR HOMICIDE UNSERVED

More than 200 arrest orders remain pending under the old penal justice system, according to a report from the State Prosecutor’s Office. Of the total historic backlog of judicial orders issued in the last 14 years, 385 are for intentional homicide. In addition, from 1995 through December 31, 2007, 844 murder cases remain unresolved and continue to be investigated under the traditional justice system, according to official reports.

El Diario, Ciudad Juárez,
January 18, 2008

WOMAN BEATEN TO DEATH

Last night a woman was found dead, apparently from a beating, inside her home located in the Colonia Anahuac. The body was found around 11:00 at night in a house located in Churubusco Street near the corner of Melchor Muzquiz, according to reports from the Secretary of Public Security. The first agents who arrived at the scene reported that the victim was severely beaten. Family members of the victim arrived at the house and identified her as María Guadalupe Esparza Zavala, 34. They added that their relative lived alone and they did not know who could have killed her.

El Diario, Ciudad Juárez,
January 21, 2008

14 POLICE MURDERED IN 13 MONTHS

The municipal policeman murdered yesterday morning is the 14th police homicide victim in the past 13 months, according to media reports. . . . Yesterday, the agent killed Sunday was officially identified as Captain Julián Cháirez Hernández, 37, who worked in the Aldama district. Before this murder, another 13 agents had died in similar circumstances since January 2007. Of the 14 victims, 13 were killed by gunfire while one was intentionally run over by a car.

El Diario, Ciudad Juárez,
January 22, 2008

AS OF TODAY NO ARRESTS

The State Prosecutor’s Office reported that as of today, no arrests have been made in the murder of a 10-year-old girl in her house located in Parajes de San Juan in the southeastern part of the city. The victim, Mirna Yesenia Muñoz

Ledo Marín, was alone at the time of the murder. Her stepfather was at work and her mother had gone out to take another of her children to the doctor.

El Diario, Ciudad Juárez,
January 23, 2008

AT THE GRAVESITE, SEEKING JUSTICE FOR MIRNA YESENIA

The body of Mirna Yesenia Muñoz Ledo Marín lies in a white casket in the center of a room in a small adobe house in Colonia Mexico 68, watched over by her family and friends. The house belongs to Celia Moreno Portillo, grandmother of the 10-year-old girl, where she and her family lived for the past year. . . . Pain and anger provoked demands for justice, that the authorities find the person who took the life of the innocent little girl. “We want to find who is responsible; the authorities must do their work,” said Faustino and Mayra Luisa Marín, half-brother and sister of the child. They indicated that their mother and stepfather had gone to live in Parajes de San Juan in order to find a better life and never imagined that they would lose Mirna Yesenia, the youngest of 7 children.

El Diario, Ciudad Juárez,
January 24, 2008

OFFICIALS SEEK GENETIC PROFILE OF THE YOUNG GIRL’S MURDERER

The State Prosecutor’s Office is processing the fluid found on the girl’s body.

DNA will be compared with a series of suspects. Last Tuesday, the state authority confirmed that Mirna Yesenia Muñoz Ledo Marín was sexually assaulted. The child died from a laceration to the heart after being stabbed in the chest with a sharp object.

El Diario, Ciudad Juárez,
January 25, 2008

CORNER PEANUT VENDOR MURDERED

According to witnesses, a peanut and pumpkin seed vendor was shot yesterday at midday by a man traveling in a car similar to those driven by the State

Investigative Agency. . . . The crime took place at 2:30 in the afternoon when the man, identified only by his nickname, “Freckles,” was selling peanuts at an intersection in the eastern area of the city.

El Diario, Ciudad Juárez,
January 25, 2008

CHURCH PLEADS FOR PRAYER TO STOP THE VIOLENCE IN JUÁREZ

Catholic church leaders in Ciudad Juárez asked the community and priests to join in prayer for justice and reconciliation.

El Diario, Ciudad Juárez,
January 26, 2001

IDENTIFY AUTHORS OF POLICE AGENTS’ MURDERS

CHIHUAHUA—The State Prosecutor’s Office has identified the presumed authors of the recent murders of the ministerial agents and the attack on Commander Fernando Lozano and is ready to issue arrest warrants, informed the State Attorney General, Patricia Gonzalez Rodriguez.

El Diario, Ciudad Juárez,
January 27, 2008

“ . . . FOR THOSE WHO CONTINUE NOT BELIEVING”

A cardboard sign with the names of 4 elements of the Secretariat of

Municipal Public Security recently assassinated, of another who is presumed to have been abducted, and of 17 active agents, was placed at the Police Monument located at the intersection of Juan Gabriel and Sanders Avenue. This death threat was registered a few days after a series of attacks began against police chiefs of the different corporations. The list was placed in a funeral wreath on the wall where memorial plaques honor agents killed in action. The message, similar to those found on the bodies of assassinated persons, read: “For those who did not believe: Cháirez, Romo, Vaca, Cháirez and Ledezma.” It also warned 17 active agents, identified by surname, code and district: “For those who continue not believing.”

El Diario de El Paso, El Paso, Tx.,
January 28, 2008

U.S. APATHY TOWARD NARCO-TRAFFICKING CREATES MORE VIOLENCE IN MEXICO

The U.S. government has not stopped drug traffic to the interior of the country and this has generated an increase in violence in Mexico, especially along the border, said Charles Bowden, author of
Down by the River
, a book about the drug trade.

Norte de Ciudad Juárez,
January 28, 2008

TRAVEL TO JUÁREZ PROHIBITED FOR U.S. MILITARY PERSONNEL

Commanders at Fort Bliss announced that military personnel stationed in El Paso are prohibited from traveling to Juárez due to the recent outbreak of violence there related to organized crime. Since last Saturday, the base commanders have suspended issuance of passes to visit Juárez due to the “unacceptable risk to health, security, well-being and morale” of the soldiers.

Norte de Ciudad Juárez,
January 28, 2008

SIX MORE MURDERS OVER THE WEEKEND

This weekend, police reported finding the bodies of six murder victims in separate incidents; four were shot.

El Diario, Ciudad Juárez,
January 28, 2008

The secretary of Municipal Public Security, Guillermo Prieto Quintana, ordered the arrest for 36 hours of the agent assigned to guard the Monument to the Fallen Police Officer. The agent was charged with negligence because he was on duty when the funeral wreath and list of 4 murdered policemen and 17 targeted for killing was left at the monument. The officer testified to his superiors that he did not see who left the threat, but unofficial sources say it was left by a group of hooded men in a dark pickup. The agent charged left his post when his replacement arrived but did not tell him or anyone about the threatening note or funeral wreath left at the monument. “It was an act of negligence because the agents assigned to guard duty fall into a routine and think that the job is not important.”

FEBRUARY

El Diario, Ciudad Juárez,
February 1, 2008

BODY FOUND IN CAR TRUNK; VICTIM JESUS DURAN HAD BEEN MISSING SINCE JANUARY 19

The body of a man was found yesterday in the trunk of a car abandoned on the street in the southeast area of the city. The victim had been reported missing to the State Investigative Police a week before his body was found. This was the second of four bodies found yesterday in different places in the city.

El Diario, Ciudad Juárez,
February 1, 2008

TWO MORE EXECUTED VICTIMS FOUND

The bodies of two men were found yesterday in Rio Champoton Street in the Cordova Americas neighborhood where more than a dozen bodies have been abandoned. Both men were found with their hands tied with adhesive tape, one with hands behind his back and the other with hands in front. The two bodies were found lying a few meters apart and the heads were bloody. Five 9 mm cartridges were found at the scene.

Norte de Ciudad Juárez,
February 1, 2008

HOMICIDE RECORD BROKEN; MORE THAN 40 VIOLENT DEATHS DURING THE MONTH OF JANUARY

January broke a record for intentional homicides. According to official statistics from the State Attorney General, the violent deaths registered at the end of January surpassed those registered during any of the previous 12 months.

El Diario, Ciudad Juárez,
February 1, 2008

JANUARY BREAKS 1995 HOMICIDE RECORD

Forty-three murders were committed in January 2008, more than in any other month in the history of Ciudad Juárez. The previous record was set 13 years ago in September 1995 with 37 murders reported. Just yesterday, four more murder victims were found, after being captured, bound, shot and left in various places around the city.

Fernando Macias Gonzalez, about 30, was found inside a pickup. . . .

Jesus Duran Uranga, 31, was in the trunk of a car located around midday in the Los Arcos neighborhood.

The third and fourth victims, unidentified, were left in a vacant lot in the Cordova Americas neighborhood. All had been shot.

Four of the January murder victims were women and 39 were men.

Notable murders this month in the city include Municipal Police Captain Julián Cháirez Hernández and a 10-year-old girl, both killed on January 20. The next day, the operational director of the municipal police, Francisco Ledesma Salazar, 34, was shot to death in front of his home as he left for work. . . . On the same day, a woman about 34 weeks pregnant was murdered with an ax by her brother-in-law, who later turned himself in to authorities. The victim, Erika Sonora Trejo, 31, was attacked in the presence of her two children aged 11 and 6. Her unborn child also died.