Two in custody in Ensenada slaying of U.S. citizen

3:09 p.m., Oct. 24, 2011
Updated 6:18 p.m.

A U.S. citizen who promoted social and environmental causes in Ensenada was killed by people he knew--tenants who told police they had dropped by his house to pay their rent but instead ended up strangling him and stealing his possessions, the Baja California Attorney General’s Office reported Monday.

The crime took place near the center of the city, where Robert Frey, a 66-year-old retired systems engineer from Oakland, was living in a rental house. Authorities said that Frey owned a residence at Ensenada's northern end, and had been renting it out to the suspects, Oscar Adolfo Velázquez MunguÃ*a, 23, and Ana MarÃ*a DÃ*az Cedano, 21.


Ana MarÃ*a DÃ*az Cedano, 22, left, and Oscar Adolfo Velázquez MunguÃ*a, 23, are accused of killing Robert Frey, a U.S. citizen active in social and environmental causes in Ensenada. — Baja California Attorney General's Office

Last Tuesday, the day before Frey's body was found, the couple told police that Frey had invited them inside and the three began drinking. The pair alleged that violence broke out when Frey tried to inappropriately touch Sedano, prompting Velázquez to hit Frey over the head with a beer bottle, according to Marco Antonio ChavarrÃ*a, head of investigations for the Attorney General’s Office in Ensenada.

Frey was found with his hands and feet bound, a blow to the back of his head and a cord around his neck. The cause of death was asphyxiation, Chavarria said.

The couple stole Frey’s laptops, credit card and car and initially fled to the state of Baja California Sur but quickly returned to Ensenada to avoid raising suspicion, ChavarrÃ*a said in a telephone interview. The couple was taken in for questioning when they attended a memorial ceremony that brought together close to 300 people who skated, rode bicycles and marched through the city, carrying flowers and candles in his memory.

“It’s been the most support I could ever have imagined,â€