August 15, 2002
Section: TUCSON/REGION
Page: B1
More details emerging in ranger’s death
Ignacio Ibarra
The man who shot and killed a National Park Service ranger near Lukeville and then died in a hail of gunfire from Mexican authorities was fleeing a botched execution over an unpaid marijuana debt, the Sonoran Attorney General’s Office said in a statement Wednesday.
The attack in Mexico included a commando-style hit squad composed of a Tijuana soldier, two ex-soldiers from Sonora and two men identified only by their nicknames, according to the office of the attorney general in Hermosillo, Miguel Angel Cortes Ibarra.
According to the statement, 19-year-old Mexican military deserter Jesús Mart’n Yescas Zazueta, one of the members of the hit squad, told investigators the violent, military-style raid was conducted on a ranch house at an ejido, or small farm, southwest of Sonoyta last Thursday.
He told investigators he was promised $15,000 to participate in the attack and was paid $5,000 in advance.
Source: www.azstarnet.com
