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Frontera
NorteSur
March 2002 |
Lawyer for Suspect in Juárez Murder Cases
Dies in Police Chase
by Greg Bloom, FNS Editor
Juárez Lawyer for Rape-Murder Suspect Killed in Police
Chase
Mario César Escobedo Anaya, the defense lawyer for
Gustavo González Meza, one of two men accused of murdering
eleven women in Ciudad Juárez, was killed in a police chase
on Tuesday, February 5, 2002.
State police said they chased Escobedo Anaya because they mistook
him for Francisco Estrada, who allegedly murdered a state police
officer. Curiously, Escobedo Anaya was also the defense lawyer
for Estrada's mother who was arrested for allegedly helping her
son escape arrest on the murder charge.
Discrepancies
State police blame Escobedo Anaya for his death because he did
not pull over when pursued by them. However, the two police vehicles
involved in the chase were unmarked and Escobedo Anaya's passenger
told the Cd. Juárez press that he did not know the men
chasing them were police until they got out of their vehicles.
There are other discrepancies in the case as well. While the Chihuahua
Attorney General's Office stated in a press release that Escobedo
Anaya died because of brain damage resulting from an auto accident
that occurred while he was fleeing state police officers, the
Cd. Juárez newspaper El Diario reports that Escobedo Anaya's
autopsy states he died from a bullet wound to the head.
State police told El Diario that they only opened fire on Escobedo
Anaya because he shot at them first. They also say that chemical
tests on Escobedo Anaya's body show that he did fire a gun. There
were at least 10 bullet holes in Escobedo Anaya's vehicle.
However, accident-scene pictures taken by a photographer from
the Cd. Juárez newspaper El Norte show an unmarked Jeep
Grand Cherokee that was driven by a state police agent. At the
scene, the Jeep showed no bullet holes. A few hours later, an
El Norte photographer took a picture of the same Jeep outside
the Attorney General's Office. This time it shows a bullet hole
in the hood of the Jeep. El Norte contends that state police agents
shot the Jeep themselves to strengthen their case against Escobedo
Anaya.
El Norte also reported that the Jeep is not registered as an official
state vehicle but is rather the private vehicle of Commander Roberto
Alejandro Castro Valles.
Escobedo Anaya took up the defense of González along with
his father, Mario Escobedo Salazar, who is also a Cd. Juárez
defense lawyer. Escobedo Salazar said that his son had received
various death threats for his involvement in the case. He also
stated that they had considered dropping González as a
client so as not to put their lives at risk.
Coup de grace?
A few days after the above mentioned questions about Escobedo
Anaya's death arose, his father said that he found a witness to
the incident that would testify that one of the agents involved
in the chase got out of a car and then shot his son, or shot at
his son, after the crash.
Later, on February 19, Escobedo Salazar, an evidence expert and
other lawyers took another look at the vehicle Escobedo Anaya
was driving during the chase. Apparent to the entire group was
that some of the shots could only have hit the truck after it
had crashed when certain parts of the wrecked vehicle became exposed.
Agents involved in the pursuit have been suspended with pay
while they are under investigation.
Escobedo Anaya was married for 12 years at the time of his death
and was the father of two girls, ages 7 and 10.
Sources: El Norte, February 7-10, 2002. Articles by Carlos Huerta.
El Diario, February 7, 2002. Articles by A. Rodríguez &
R. Ramos. El Norte, February 20, 2002. Article by Carlos Huerta.