Translator’s note: Eight years ago, on July 31, 2015, Nadia Vera Pérez, Yesenia Quiroz Alfaro, Mile Virginia Martin, Alejandra Negrete Avilés, and Rubén Espinosa Becerril were murdered in an apartment in the Narvarte neighborhood of Mexico City. While three individuals have been sentenced, the identity of all those responsible, including the intellectual authors and their motives, remains unknown. Evidence points to the possible involvement of the then-government of Javier Duarte of Veracruz, as both Nadia and Rubén had fled Veracruz following threats for their work. The words of Mirtha Luz Pérez Robledo, mother of Nadia Vera, marking one year since the murder of her daughter can be found on this site here. That translation, along with an introduction, was later published in the anthology Rebellious Mourning: The Collective Work of Grief, edited by Cindy Milstein. The Narvarte killings are also the focus of the documentary In Broad Daylight: The Narvarte Case, available on Netflix. The below article discusses new information about the case brought forward this week by the family members of those killed.

By Aristegui Noticias, August 2, 2023
Translated by Scott Campbell

Patricia Espinosa, sister of photojournalist Rubén Espinosa, one of the five victims of the multihomicide in the Narvarte neighborhood in July 2015, said it was due to a statement of assets [1] that they could link Alejandro “N” [2] as being the son of an official in the Mexico City Attorney General’s Office (FGJCDMX), and that both could be related to the case.

In an interview with Aristegui en Vivo, Patricia explained that, according to police reports, they found that a cell phone associated with Alejandro “N” was located during and after the murders, and the cross-checking of information from a statement of assets identified Alejandro as the son of Luis Javier Garcia Saldaña, identified by the families as an agent of the Public Prosecutor’s Office of the FGJCDMX.

Neither of the two have been investigated, assured Patricia Espinosa.

In addition, the families noted that another finding from the statement of assets is that the judicial official is the father-in-law of one of those convicted in the case.

“It shows us that the man who works in the prosecutor’s office is or was the father-in-law of Omar, one of those sentenced. Omar (Martínez Zendejas) was married to his daughter Rosa and they had a little girl, so there is a family connection,” said Espinosa.

Espinosa stated that the phone number of the official’s son was found by police via geolocation and that they noted this in the investigation but did not investigate further.

“The Attorney General’s Office says that they checked to see if the phone number was Alejandro “N”’s, however, he was not there, it was the neighbors who corroborated that this number was Alejandro’s. But at that time, it was in the possession of Omar, one of the three sentenced [in the case]….How is it possible that they have this information and know so much detail about a specific phone number, and those relationships and threads make us think there could be a connection.”

It is even presumed that there could be links between the new individuals pointed out by the families with another of the accused, former police officer Abraham Torres Tranquilino.

“In addition, in the report we presented, there is a photograph showing Alejandro “N”, son of Luis Javier García Saldaña, with one of those arrested named Abraham.”

According to Patricia Espinosa, their lawyers’ inquiries found official information that revealed that until March of this year, Luis Javier García Saldaña was still active within the Mexico City Attorney General’s Office, contrary to statements made by the institution’s spokesperson.

For his part, the spokesperson from the Mexico City Attorney General’s Office, Ulises Lara, recently stated that the person indicated by the families works as an official secretary in the Agency of Crimes Committed on the Metro Collective Transportation System, and that he was summoned to testify seven months ago, without being able to establish any links with the Narvarte case.

In the time and place

The report presented by the families indicates that the telephone, presumably belonging to Alejandro “N”, with the number ending in 78, was located at the crime scene on July 31, 2015, between the hours of 2:29pm and 3:11pm, the time when the multihomicide is assumed to have occurred.

Its location was also registered at 9:32pm, in apartment 402 of building 1909 on Luz Saviñon Street, in the Narvarte neighborhood, the time at which the police apparently arrived.

The missing line of inquiry

The sister of photojournalist Rubén Espinosa stated that one of the leads that has not been exhausted and that the authorities need to address, despite the additional information presented by the families and their lawyers, is that of Nadia Vera’s activism and her brother’s photojournalistic work.

“The lead that has been investigated the least, that we do have in mind, is the lead of Rubén’s journalistic work and Nadia’s activism. This lead brings us to Veracruz, to the government of Javier Duarte, and the work of (Arturo) Bermúdez Zurita. Ultimately, this lead has been the least followed-up on,” she said.

Regarding this lead, she noted that Mexico City authorities report having sent letters and obtained responses, but that for the last eight years, it’s been the same interaction without answers or progress.

She also stressed that this line of inquiry and others could be intertwined, due to the way in which the events occurred.

“Rubén and Nadia were tortured, as were Yesenia and Mile. The only person who wasn’t tortured inside the apartment was Mrs. Alejandra, so this makes us think that there may not just be one motive, but surely they are linked,” she stated.

Turning their backs on the Attorney General’s Office

Patricia Espinosa stated that they will cease to maintain relations with the Attorney General’s Office due to the lack of attention to the revelations that the families’ own investigations have turned up.

“We don’t want to have these meetings now due to the fact that there are never conclusive advances and we arrive and offer information, such as on July 31, and it is simply kept in the drawer. So we are not going to provide more information because they are not going to investigate or listen to it,” she said.

Notes:

[1] A statement of assets (declaración patrimonial) is a publicly available statement that all public servants in Mexico must provide annually to the government.

[2] In Mexico, the last names of those facing charges but who have not been found guilty is changed to “N” to protect their identity.