http://www.sierratimes.com/03/03/06/arpubrt030603.htm
Border War Heating up? Slain Immigrant Called 9th Victim in Arizona Spree
Reuters
Published 03. 6. 03 at 9:31 Sierra Time
PHOENIX (Reuters) - A Mexican man who was found shot to death in a rural area outside Phoenix appears to be the ninth victim in a string of execution-style murders of illegal immigrants, police said on Wednesday.
The body of the unidentified man was found early on Wednesday by a passerby, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio said. Arpaio said the victim, who was in his 30s, had been shot at close range, his hands bound behind his back.
"We're positive that all the murders are related," Arpaio told Reuters.
Eight other illegal immigrants have been slain since last March, killed in much the same manner before being dumped by the roadside. All the victims were male, bound before they were killed and all but one of those murdered was shot.
Unlike the other killings, Arpaio said the body found Wednesday had been recently murdered and was in a different area from where the other bodies were discovered.
Arpaio said he worries that more bodies are still undiscovered throughout the sprawling area.
"It used to be this would happen near the border," he said. "Now the killing fields seem to be in the big metropolitan city of Phoenix."
Investigators have struggled to pin down a motive for the murders and have speculated that it could be smugglers, drug traffickers or even vigilantes angry over illegal immigration. Police say little progress have been made in the case, partly because potential witnesses are reluctant to come forward out of fear they will be harmed or deported.
Alan Hubbard, administrative officer for the Mexican consulate in Phoenix, could not be reached for comment.
Hubbard has said that the spate of killings had generated a deluge of telephone calls from concerned people on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border. The incidents also have been brought to the attention of high-level officials in the Mexican government in hopes of generating leads in the case.
Border War Heating up? Slain Immigrant Called 9th Victim in Arizona Spree
Reuters
Published 03. 6. 03 at 9:31 Sierra Time
PHOENIX (Reuters) - A Mexican man who was found shot to death in a rural area outside Phoenix appears to be the ninth victim in a string of execution-style murders of illegal immigrants, police said on Wednesday.
The body of the unidentified man was found early on Wednesday by a passerby, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio said. Arpaio said the victim, who was in his 30s, had been shot at close range, his hands bound behind his back.
"We're positive that all the murders are related," Arpaio told Reuters.
Eight other illegal immigrants have been slain since last March, killed in much the same manner before being dumped by the roadside. All the victims were male, bound before they were killed and all but one of those murdered was shot.
Unlike the other killings, Arpaio said the body found Wednesday had been recently murdered and was in a different area from where the other bodies were discovered.
Arpaio said he worries that more bodies are still undiscovered throughout the sprawling area.
"It used to be this would happen near the border," he said. "Now the killing fields seem to be in the big metropolitan city of Phoenix."
Investigators have struggled to pin down a motive for the murders and have speculated that it could be smugglers, drug traffickers or even vigilantes angry over illegal immigration. Police say little progress have been made in the case, partly because potential witnesses are reluctant to come forward out of fear they will be harmed or deported.
Alan Hubbard, administrative officer for the Mexican consulate in Phoenix, could not be reached for comment.
Hubbard has said that the spate of killings had generated a deluge of telephone calls from concerned people on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border. The incidents also have been brought to the attention of high-level officials in the Mexican government in hopes of generating leads in the case.
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