Anonymous - 1-24-2005 at 01:19 PM
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20050124-9999-1m24m...
Investigator says crimes not related to one another
By Sandra Dibble
January 24, 2005
TIJUANA ? A bloody Sunday left seven people dead yesterday in three separate incidents in Tijuana and neighboring Rosarito Beach.
Investigators are linking at least one of the crimes to drug trafficking. A second incident involved suspected neighborhood drug dealers. The third
was a crime of passion, say Baja California investigators.
Though it's an unusually high number for one day, "these are incidents that are not linked to each other," said Francisco Castro Trenti, head of
homicide investigations for the Baja California Attorney General's office.
One of the crimes involved three badly burned bodies found in a Toyota pickup with California license plates in the eastern Tijuana neighborhood of
Jardin Dorado.
Firefighters were still putting out the vehicle fire at 4:30 a.m. when state agents arrived.
Investigators said the bodies were burned almost beyond recognition but are believed to be of two males and a female. They said one of the the hands
of at least one of the victims appeared to have been bound by tape.
Castro Trenti said the killings appeared to be linked to drug traffickers, but he gave few details last night.
South of Tijuana, in Rosarito Beach, two suspected drug dealers and a third man were shot to death early yesterday afternoon. Investigators said the
men were driving in a 1985 Honda Civic and had been chased by two other vehicles.
Two of the dead were identified as brothers Gonzalo and Rodrigo Figueroa Martinez, 21 and 18 years old, respectively. The third was identified only as
Manuel or El Gren, between 23 and 25 years old. A fourth passenger, a brother of the first two victims, was slightly wounded.
Castro Trenti said two of the victims were known in their neighborhood as crack cocaine dealers. But investigators have not conclusively linked the
killings to drugs.
In a central Tijuana neighborhood known as Colonia Emperadores, a man was shot to death at 1:20 a.m. by a neighbor in what Castro Trenti described as
a crime of passion. The suspect fled but was identified by the victim's wife as well as his own wife. No other details were available.
Yesterday's killings bring to 30 the number of homicides so far this year in Tijuana, Tecate and Rosarito Beach, Castro Trenti said. Ninety percent of
the victims had criminal records or may have been involved in illicit activities, he said. Last year, 355 homicides were recorded in the region.
Starting to sound like
jrbaja - 1-24-2005 at 02:28 PM
east l.a. around here!