Posted on 02/25/2006 11:32:30 AM PST by fanfan
No contact yet made with RCMP
Couple's bodies turned over to family
IN PLAYA DEL CARMEN, MEXICO.
While Canadian authorities insist they are in the dark about possible suspects in the slaying of a Woodbridge couple at a Mexican resort, a top official in the state where the homicides took place says they'll soon have what they need to arrest the three people responsible.
All the suspects are women, all are Canadians and all are in Canada, Bello Melchor Rodriguez, attorney general for Quintana Roo state, told the Star last night.
"We have photos of all three. We now have names of all three," Rodriguez said.
Contradicting previous statements, he said Mexican authorities have not yet been in contact with Canadian police about the case. He said he expects contact to be made next week.
"We will be putting together a package of information for the Canadian police and sending it to Canada next week." It will include the names of the suspects and photos.
Rodriguez has alleged Domenic and Nancy Ianiero were the victims of a professional, premeditated hit by Canadians who fled the country last Monday after slitting the victims' throats.
Last night, he said robbery is also a possibility. Asked if he knew whether anything had been stolen from the Ianieros' hotel room, he said he did not know.
The bodies of the couple, both in their 50s, were released to their family yesterday afternoon, he said. "It is up to them to make the arrangements to get them back to Canada."
Playing down Rodriguez's statements, Felipe Duran, a spokesman for the state attorney's office in Quintana Roo, told Canadian Press he could not substantiate statements that the killings are the work of a professional or that police had identified suspects. "I don't know how much truth there is to that at this point."
Another official in that office, Armando Marquez, told the news agency there has been a "misunderstanding" and denied there are any photos of suspects.
Responding to those comments, Rodriguez said: "I am the attorney general."
He said he has access to all the information known by Mexican authorities about the case.
Pressed to explain why Canadian law-enforcement officials hadn't been notified about the suspects' identities, Rodriguez cited diplomatic channels that must be followed.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police continued to insist yesterday the Mounties don't know the suspects' identities.
And while the RCMP liaison officer in Mexico City made a direct call to authorities there offering Canadian assistance, there has been no response, RCMP spokesperson Sgt. Nathalie Deschenes said. She also said the RCMP and other Canadian police services have been receiving tips and information from Canadians here that have been passed on to Mexican authorities.
But she said there has not been any active investigation into whether the Ianieros' assailants might have returned to Canada. "We have no further information from Mexican police to conduct an investigation here," she said.
The Ianieros had arrived at the Barcelo Maya Beach Resort, near Playa del Carmen, a week ago today for what was to be the start of a two-week vacation highlighted by the wedding of their daughter Lily in a sunset beach ceremony last night. Sixteen friends and family also made the trip. The all-inclusive resort, about an hour's drive south of Cancun, and much of the Mayan Riviera is packed with Canadian tourists this time of year.
Three-quarters of a million Canadians visited Mexico in 2004, according to Statistics Canada.
The Ianieros attended a party at the hotel Sunday night and were killed in their room between midnight and 3 a.m. Monday, police in Mexico said. Their throats were slashed and a trail of blood led to a nearby room, though the occupants had vanished the next morning when the bodies were discovered.
Initially, Rodriguez said police were having trouble identifying the mysterious guests because the hotel failed to properly register them. Then a bombshell came Thursday night. Mexican authorities not only knew the names of two suspects, but there was a third accomplice, Rodriguez said. Police also claimed to have photos of the first two suspects alleged to have been part of a vacation tour from Canada that arrived in Mexico Feb. 13 and departed Monday afternoon back to Canada.
"The only thing I have confirmed publicly is that the Mexican ... prosecutor ... asked our company in Mexico for certain information, which we have provided," said Jill Wykes, vice-president of communications for Sunquest Vacations. She would not comment on whether that information could be a passenger list.
Liberal MPP Greg Sorbara (Vaughan-King-Aurora) urged Canadian police forces to work as diligently as they can in helping Mexican authorities. Sorbara said he believes Canadian police services are working behind the scenes and do not want to say anything until there are arrests or they have more information.
A private investigator and former Toronto Police Service homicide detective, however, said he can't understand why the RCMP wouldn't confirm some involvement given the high profile of the case and to let Canadians know something is being done.
"Let's go on the basis that what the Mexicans are telling us is totally accurate ... don't you think they would have by now provided all the information on the suspects to Canadian law enforcement?" said Tom Klatt, who was involved in more than 70 murder investigations and now is a partner with MKD Investigations Inc.
And while it's important to "keep an open mind," and stressing that he's not privy to the details of the case, Klatt says he's been skeptical about Mexican police claims, particularly given the "quick response" of officials to pin the blame on Canadians.
He also noted police in Mexico, a country reliant on a thriving tourist trade, have long been plagued by charges of poor training, low pay and corruption. They'd also be under pressure by some government officials not to blame locals for the crime, Klatt said.
Just hours before the slain couple was discovered, Rodriguez announced the arrest of Ruben Alfaro Morales, 19, and Carlos Januario Rosales Sastre, 29, in connection with the murders of two 26-year-old European tourists found dead Dec. 9 in Tulum, not far from the Barcelo resort.
Mexican authorities are seeking a third suspect, identified as Carlos Rosales, 29. Police allege the men drove the couple down a deserted road, where they stopped and raped the young woman before killing them both with a machete.
"If this (the Ianiero case) was a local robbery, it is the last thing the (travel) industry wants out," Klatt said yesterday.
"The politicians of the day control the police. For the Mexican police to come out as quick as they have, to say we have ... suspects, we have this and we have that, is, in my opinion, to calm the fears of the thousands of tourists that are in Cancun and the Mayan Riviera."
He also wonders why Canadians would travel to Mexico to murder fellow Canadians when it would have been much easier to do it in Canada.
Why aren't Canadian authorities involved?
The RCMP response has been it is a Mexican investigation and, as such, the RCMP's role is limited.
Klatt, who investigated the murder of a Toronto couple in Trinidad a decade ago, agreed the hands of law enforcement officials here are tied.
In many countries, particularly Caribbean countries, "there is a difference in how law enforcement is treated within the country and there's a huge difference in how they treat law enforcement from outside the country."
On the Trinidad case, the only reason he got involved at the outset was because Interpol asked for Toronto police help identifying the victims.
He kept on it, and discovered "the politics involved are ridiculous. It took me four years to solve the Trinidad murder. We knew four months into that case who the suspect was and we could not get the Trinidadian authorities to co-operate."
Victims Annunziata, 55, and Domenic Ianiero, 59.
Dang, I just got back from there. Good SCUBA, but there's no place like home.
"He also noted police in Mexico, a country reliant on a thriving tourist trade, have long been plagued by charges of poor training, low pay and corruption. They'd also be under pressure by some government officials not to blame locals for the crime, Klatt said."
If this is true, this is pretty conclusive evidence.
Who would want to go south of our border anywhere??!!!
One would think so, but the first reports said the hotel had not properly registered the guests in that room, although staff said there were 2 women staying in it.
Canada Ping!
Please FReepmail me to get on or off this Canada ping list.
Well I always wanted to visit Patagonia---that's about it !
Thank God in Heaven we are NOT going to Mexico next month. I thought I was going to have to go to that criminal infested nation, but circumstances changed.
This poor couple's daughter, I feel so awful for her.
May the several poor murder victims in this story Rest in Peace, along with the many, many other victims of crime in that corrupt country, including all those murdered young women, none of whom have been avenged, insofar as I know, anyway.
We drove from L.A. to Puerta Vallarta and Mazatlan for our honeymoon in 1972. It was even scary then, but nearly as scary as Bangkok a year later.
This guy is a joke. Right?
Eleven o'clock news last night , I think it was CTV, the women in question have been to the police here on their own , given their story and are available to the police anytime . They were staying at the same resort, did not know or meet the murdered couple , finished their vacation time there and came home The police were interviewed also . As they say, a goose chase while the real murder gets away.
How often does a women cut the throats of murder victims?
Not often.
My in laws were shaken down on their way to the Cancun airport by the Mexican police.
If they had not paid they would have missed their flight.
At that time the USA State Department website had a warning up for tourists that the Mexican police forces around Cancun had not been paid for 6 months.
Mexican military armed with automatic weapons patrol the beaches around Cancun to protect the tourists from the locals. When my friends first saw them during a visit, they thought they were bandits, but the soldiers were relaxed and smiled and waved.
Armed soliders patrolling the beach is just NOT my idea of a relaxing environment.
There's always Florida! We are actually going to Vegas since the Mexican trip fell through. Hubby and I are going to re-tie the legal knot there, so I'm hoping we'll have a fun time. And we're going to see Steve & Edie too, I'm so excited!
Your invited to vacation in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. It's a natural beauty.
Yup, Florida, Vegas, Hawaii.
Been to all three, and loved it.
Have a great 2nd wedding, and honeymoon!
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