Lawyer for massacred Mormon family, and candidate for mayor, murdered in Mexico

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The lawyer for the Mormon family that was massacred in November 2019 in the Mexican state of Sonora, and candidate of the Movimiento Ciudadano (MC) party for the municipality of Cajeme, Abel Murrieta, was shot to death this Thursday while he was carrying out a campaign event.

Murrieta, a former prosecutor, was known for being the representative of the LeBarón family in the trial for the massacre of the Mormon families, which occurred between the states of Sonora and Chihuahua, on November 4, 2019.

The execution of the lawyer occurred around 5.20 PM local time in the Cumuripa neighborhood, next to a shopping center, one of the busiest areas of Ciudad Obregon, which hosts Cajeme (Sonora), one of the four most violent municipalities in the country, according to organizations.

Through Twitter, the Sonora State Attorney General’s Office confirmed the death.

“The Sonora Prosecutor’s Office is carrying out an operation to find those responsible for the cowardly attack in which Abel Murrieta Gutiérrez, former Attorney General of Sonora and candidate for mayor of Cajeme, was killed,” the message stated.

The candidate was holding a rally, handing out flyers and sticking stickers on cars, when armed men surrounded him and riddled him with bullets, shooting him at least 10 times in different parts of his body, including two in the head.

He was still alive and was rushed to an ambulance but died at San José hospital after failing to resist the severity of his wounds.

Abel Murrieta Gutiérrez was Attorney General of Justice in Sonora when the fire at the ABC Day Care Center in Hermosillo occurred; he was also a federal deputy from 2015 to 2018.

In 2019 he was appointed as legal representative of the LeBarón family in the criminal and judicial proceedings for the massacre of the Mormon families Langford, Miller, and Jonhson.

ATTORNEY FOR THE LEBARON FAMILY

In November 2019, three pickup trucks full of women and children of the LeBarón family were moving from a ranch in the town of La Mora (Sonora) to Galeana (Chihuahua), where the LeBarón colony is located, when at the border between the two states they were ambushed by armed hitmen.

“They killed my lawyer, the one who helped me to bring the murderers of my daughter and my family to trial. Now I am in mourning,” wrote Adrián LeBarón on his Twitter account.

Last April 24, Abel Murrieta started his campaign for the municipal presidency of Cajeme as the standard-bearer of Movimiento Ciudadano; ironically, his last message, published minutes before his death, pointed out the violence and insecurity.

“This movement is serious about fighting insecurity. Cajeme can no longer nor will continue to tolerate corrupt politicians who leave unpunished those who attack citizens. I am with Abel because he is heavy (strong)”.

The head of Mexico’s Interior Ministry, Olga Sanchez Cordero, condemned the murder of the politician.

“I condemn the regrettable and cowardly murder of candidate Abel Murrieta in Cajeme, Sonora. I will be pending the corresponding investigations to punish those responsible; security in a democracy must prevail. My condolences to the family and loved ones,” he said on social networks.

The governor of Sonora, Claudia Pavlovich, also expressed her condolences for the murder.

Different candidates for the governorship of Sonora, deputies, and municipal presidencies announced the suspension of their campaign events, including the debate between candidates for the mayor of Cajeme organized by the State Electoral Institute.

The Attorney General of Justice in Sonora, Claudia Indira Contreras Córdova, traveled from the city of Hermosillo, capital of Sonora, to Cajeme to lead the investigations to find those responsible for the attack.

On June 6, more than 93 million Mexicans are called to the polls to elect 500 federal deputies, 15 of 32 state governors, 30 local congresses, and 1,900 city councils, in what are considered the largest elections in Mexico’s history.

The consulting firm Etellekt, which records political violence in Mexico 2021, indicated that with the assassination of the candidate, a total of 563 criminal acts against politicians and candidates had been registered, with a balance of 83 politicians who have lost their lives in attacks (32 of them candidates).