Beheaded man hanged from overpass in Juarez, Mexico
Pastor Dale Morgan
Beheaded man hanged from overpass in Juarez, Mexico*
Associated Press
Nov. 6, 2008, 3:53PM
CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico — A beheaded man was hanged from an overpass
today, a gruesome display even for this northern border city long used
to drug-related violence.
Shortly after the grisly sighting about 5 a.m., police found the
victim's head in a black bag in a nearby plaza, said state police
spokesman Alejandro Pariente.
Pariente said the body was clad in black jeans, a red T-shirt and white
sneakers, and was handcuffed. A banner apparently directed at rival
drug-gang members was hung next to the corpse.
The victim's father identified the 23-year-old man.
Elsewhere, masked men gunned down two police officers in a convenience
store in Chihuahua City, the capital of Chihuahua state, where Juarez is
located, said Eduardo Esparza, spokesman for the state attorney
general's office. After the killing Wednesday evening, assailants left a
toy pig next to the bodies. Two shoppers also were wounded.
On Tuesday, a man wearing a pig mask was found hung in a residence in
Ciudad Juarez. Near the body was a message threatening to do the same to
others. Police believe the message was from drug gangs.
Drug violence has been escalating across Mexico and cartels have turned
to increasingly gruesome methods to send a message to their rivals and
police. Juarez, across the border from El Paso, Texas, has registered
one of the highest murder rates in the country, with more than 1,000
people killed so far this year.