Mexican authorities have identified a U.S. citizen as the killer who shot and killed photojournalist Margarito Martínez Esquivel in Tijuana in January.
Baja California's attorney general, Iván Carpio, said Manuel "N", an American, received 20,000 pesos —$1,000—for shooting the photographer.
Another individual, Heriberto "N", received an equal amount for witnessing the homicide and filming it on his cell phone, proving that Manuel "N" had carried out the murder.
The one who ordered the murder was Cristian Adán "N" because he assumed that Margarito Martínez was the author of some newspaper articles that disclosed information about cartel leaders. However, Margarito Martínez was not authoring this information since he sold photographs for many media outlets but did not write.
The prosecutor said that the authorities have the video in which Manuel "N", alias Uber, is seen murdering the photojournalist.
In Mexico, the authorities replace the surnames of suspects with the determination "N" until they are proven guilty.
The three detainees are in jail in Tijuana.
The authorities reached them by intercepting communications with judicial authorization.
Days before the murder, Cristian Adán "Cabo 16" told Heriberto "El Huesos" to find someone to kill the journalist, so "El Huesos" asked "a soldier" from the cartel to offer to kill Margarito Martínez, and It was Manuel "El Uber" who presented himself.
"Cabo 16" paid for the murder for hire $2,000, and between him and "Huesos" kept the video as evidence of the murder.
Margarito Martínez was murdered outside his home in Tijuana. The prosecution said the attack was also because the criminal group operates in the same area and felt uncomfortable with the presence of a journalist in the area.
