A soldier assigned to guard the northern Mexican jail currently holding Sinaloa cartel chief Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán was found dead last week, with signs of torture, and it’s not clear who’s responsible for his killing.
The body of Jorge Mauricio Melendez Herrera, 20, was discovered on Friday in an unpopulated area in western Ciudad Juarez.
He was identified after his family reported him missing on Saturday. He was found wrapped in a blanket on a dirt road.
A forensic expert determined that he had suffered multiple stab wounds, but was killed by a blow to the back of the head.
Melendez Herrera was assigned to the “first filter of security” around the Federal Social Readaptation Center (Cefereso) No. 9, just outside of Ciudad Juarez.
He was one of 300 soldiers deployed to guard the prison after Guzmán was suddenly transferred there in early May. Authorities in Chihuahua state are investigating whether his killing is related to his role as a guard at the prison, according to Mexican newspaper Milenio, though it’s possible that the case could pass to federal authorities because of Melendez Herrera’s involvement in guarding Guzmán.
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What kind of hold on people does this guy have that the guards die instead of him?