Editor's killers were 'pros'
2004-06-24 07:49
Tijuana, Mexico - The gunmen who ambushed and killed crusading newspaper editor Francisco Ortiz were likely hired assassins who could have links to drug-smuggling gangs, investigators say.
At least two assailants emerged from a sport-utility vehicle and shot Ortiz four times on Tuesday. His two youngest children, ages 10 and eight, had been riding with the 47-year-old journalist and lawyer in his blue 2003 Chevy Corsa, but they escaped unharmed.
Federal Attorney General Rafael Macedo de la Concha said earlier that his office would take over the case if it finds evidence that a federal crime, such as conspiracy or drug trafficking, was involved.
Authorities had yet to determine a motive for the slaying of Ortiz, editorial page editor and board member of Zeta. But Sarabia said that from the way Ortiz was killed, "It appears to be the work of professionals with ties to drug traffickers or organised crime."
Baja California state Attorney General Antonio Martinez Luna said investigators would look at any possible link with the 1988 slaying of a founder of Zeta, Hector Felix Miranda, a case that Ortiz and other editors at Zeta have kept alive.
One of the two men convicted in the killing was a bodyguard for Jorge Hank Rhon, owner of a horse racetrack and now a candidate for mayor in August 1 elections.
Asked if the investigation would "look toward the racetrack," Martinez Luna replied, "It's obvious and it would be logical to also analyse that line of investigation."
Rhon dismissed Martinez Luna's comments.
Now they kill another one
"There was an attack on an editor and now they kill another one and they still want to link it to a case that absolutely isn't related," he said. "It's silly."
Nine years later, men with machine guns ambushed and nearly killed Zeta publisher Jesus Blancornelas.
After the November 1997 attempt on Blancornelas' life, Tijuana municipal police were assigned to protect key members of Zeta's staff.
But Ortiz asked city officials to abandon the security detail on June 10, just 12 days before he was killed, Tijuana police chief Martin Dominguez said. He said it was unclear why Ortiz felt police protection was no longer necessary. Martinez Luna said there would be an investigation into the matter.
Witnesses told investigators that a Jeep Grand Cherokee believed to be carrying the attackers was waiting for Ortiz and his children.
A black car like the one witnesses described was found abandoned not far from where Ortiz was killed.
Ortiz also was among the founders of Zeta, which has a reputation for fearless pieces focusing on corruption and organised crime along the US-Mexico border.
"Zeta specializes in drug-trafficking stories. It mentions the first and last names of smugglers and says where they operate," said Victor Clark, director of the Tijuana-based Binational Centre for Human Rights.
- AP