Autopsy finds that woman was strangled
By Daniel Borunda / El Paso Times
Article Launched: 06/12/2008 12:00:00 AM MDT



Chihuahua state investigators said Wednesday that an autopsy determined that a young woman found in west Juárez on Monday died from manual strangulation.

The woman, who was between 20 and 24 years old, was found covered with rocks at the edge of the Felipes Angels area. A task force investigating the murders of more than 300 women in more than a decade has been assigned to the case.

The body of a man found wrapped in bandages in an alley on Tuesday was identified as Flavio Barragan Medina. He died of a gunshot wound to the head, state police said Wednesday.

About 10 p.m. Tuesday, an unidentified man, who was about 19, was shot and killed outside a home on Francisco Galarza street, police said. Four bullet shells were found at the scene.

Shortly before 3:30 a.m. Wednesday, a man, identified as Abel Muñoz Anima, 31, who allegedly forced his way into a home with a handgun, was shot and killed during a struggle for the firearm, police said. A man and a woman were hospitalized after the incident.

Also on Wednesday, a member of the state attorney general's office who resigned last August was found dead in a suspected suicide with a handgun while sitting in the driver's seat of a Chevrolet Impala. Jorge Isaac Pantoja Ramirez, 29, was found holding a 9 mm handgun in one hand and a key ring with a



photograph of a child in the other hand, state police said.
Daniel Borunda may be reached at dborunda@elpasotimes.com;546-6102.






Elsewhere

Three men were shot and killed Sunday by Mexican soldiers when the occupants of a car allegedly fired a handgun, sped up and struck two soldiers while trying to pass a road checkpoint in the city of Cuahtemoc in central Chihuahua, military officials said.

The car's driver, Juan Humberto Ponce Soto, and an unidentified male passenger were killed, along with Honorio Gutierrez Ramirez, who was in a seperate vehicle being inspected. A third passenger in the car, Alvaro Orozco Higinio, was not hurt.

Soldiers found a 9 mm handgun, three spent bullet casings and empty beer cans in the car that allegedy tried to run the checkpoint. An inquiry into the incident is under way.


Priority: Normal





http://www.elpasotimes.com/juarez/ci_9557026