On April 30 in Mexico City, Federal Police arrested a man suspected of murdering Moisés Dagdug Lutzow, Mexican media businessman and former federal congressman. Dagdug was stabbed to death at his home in Villahermosa, Tabasco on Feb. 20, according to news site Animal Político.
“According to investigations conducted by the Investigation Division of the Federal Police, in coordination with the Attorney General of the state of Tabasco, Rolando Manubes de la Cruz, 25, is allegedly linked to the events that took place last February 20 of this year, against the former federal congressman,” according to a statement from Federal Police that was reported by Animal Político.
However, no details about the possible motives of the crime were reported.
The suspect was hiding near the delegation Benito Juárez, an area of Mexico City. Manubes de la Cruz was brought before the Public Prosecutor, assigned to the Directorate General for Research of the Attorney General of the state of Tabasco, according to news site Sin Embargo.
Dagdug, 65, was director and owner of the media company Grupo VX and the radio station XEVX-AM La Grande de Tabasco, which he owned since 1980. He also founded the television station TVX, where he hosted the program “Head-on Tabasco” (“De Frente a Tabasco”). He also was a federal representative for the Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD) from 2006 to 2009.
Before his death, Dagdug and the news director of Grupo XV, Ángel Antonio Jiménez, reported that they had received threats for having an editorial line critical of the state government of Tabasco, Aristegui Noticias reported.
According to an article from the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), Jiménez said that shortly before his death, Dagdug had updated his security system after the threats and a couple of break-ins at his home.
According to the newspaper Excelsior, the Attorney General of Tabasco said in a statement that the white Ford pick up stolen from Dagdug after the assault was found hours after the murder. The Attorney General added that inside the vehicle they found a serrated kitchen knife with traces of blood belonging to the deceased, eyeglasses, several bottles of liquor and other things.
Mexico ranks eighth in the CPJ 2015 Global Impunity Index, which lists the countries where those responsible for crimes against journalists go free. Since CPJ started documenting these cases in 1992, at least 36 Mexican journalists have been killed because of their work.
Note from the editor: This story was originally published by the Knight Center’s blog Journalism in the Americas, the predecessor of LatAm Journalism Review.
