The Sunday Read: ‘Who Hired the Hitmen to Silence Zitácuaro?’

[Music]. my name is Nick Casey I'm a writer for. the New York Times. magazine Mexico is in the middle of a. war against drug. traffickers but there's a second. conflict there that you might not know. about it's a war to silence Mexico's. Free. Press last year Mexico was one of the. deadliest places in the world for. journalists to work second only to. Ukraine Mexican journalists have faced. phone hacks death threats beatings.

torture and in one case a pair of. grenades launched at their. Newsroom because no one has figured out. how to protect journalists where they. work Mexico has resorted to the extreme. step of hiding reporters in safe houses. across the. country what's Behind These threats is. pretty simple many of the reporters. under threat were investigating the. government that was supposed to protect. them and many in the government for. years have been on the payroll of. Mexico's drug cartels.

now imagine you're a reporter in. Mexico how do you do your job when you. can't distinguish between the crime. Fighters and the. criminals is this prosecutor I'm. speaking to involved with the crime that. I'm. reporting and what will he do to me for. writing about. it it's a Hall of. Mirrors in. Mexico you're on your. own this week's Sunday read is my story.

about a local Newsroom in Mexico called. the meakan. monitor the monitor was a small news. Outlet just one editor and a few of his. friends and they decided to investigate. corruption in their city. government soon they started getting. threats and as you'll hear in the story. some of these threats became. real but these did not deter Armand. lades the editor and chief of the. Monitor and so even after the. photographer of the monitor was murdered.

Outside The Newsroom by two massed. asants lades took to Facebook live to. address the. killing in the broadcast a visibly. shaking L that is sits alone in front of. a. microphone his phone a pen and a. reporter's notebook sit on the. table the mokan monitor team has been.

suffering a series of death. threats today these threats were carried. out and one of our members was murdered. today a few minutes ago they made an. attempt on his. life he lost his life a few minutes. ago that's the way it is at the mitan. monitor.

I can't talk much I can't say. much all I can do is tell our colleagues. family that we are not going to leave. things like this we are going to take. things to The Bitter. End.

we're not armed we don't have. weapons our only defense is a pen a. pencil and a. notebook the Facebook live continues. elinar says that he knows who is behind. the. killing he goes on to say that he's. going to continue to report on. corruption despite someone being killed. in his Newsroom it's a spectacular.

[Music]. decision this wasn't the first small. Newsroom to be attacked this way in. Mexico usually this means the end. everyone goes into hiding but with lates. you have the case of someone who is just. so grounded in what he did and what he. believed and the power of Journalism to. change things in a democracy that he. decided he wasn't going to leave and he. wasn't going to give. up and in the end at the monitor you're.

talking about ordinary reporters with. little money or. protection people who thought they could. make a contribution by exposing. corruption in their. town but what they came up against was. something much. bigger and much more armed than they. were so here's my article who hired the. Hitman to silence. sitak read by Anthony Ray. Perez.

on October 19th. 2021 Armando Linares Lopez was writing. up notes from an interview when his cell. phone buzzed with an unknown number. linaris 49 in stocky with black hair. that was just starting to show gray. streaks ran an online news site in a. small Mexican city called. sitaro he knew his Beats so intimately. that calls from unfamiliar phone numbers. were rare.

but the man on the other end spoke in a. way that was instantly familiar Linares. had come to know that pitched menacing. tone from years of run-ins with every. kind of Mexican. gangster this is Commander Eagle the. voice. said I'm from the halisco new generation. cartel sakaro in the hills of the state. of mijan had for years mostly been known.

for its fertile avocado Orchards and the. Pine Oak Forest where tourists came to. see the annual arrival of the monarch. butterflies but its central location had. made it increasingly attractive to the. drug trade Farmers grew marijuana and. Opium poppy the source of heroin in. nearby mountains and in recent years. International drug cartels had been. using mitan as a way station for. methampetamine and fenal. shipments laris's rise as a journalist.

coincided with the drug boom and he. watched its devastating effects on. sitaro severed heads dumped in front of. a car dealership business owners. kidnapped for ransom and a government. that seemed unwilling or unable to do. anything about. it if Mexico ever hoped to escape the. violence that was devouring it linaris. often said the Press would need to. pursue the politicians who enabled the. crime.

and so in 2019 he and a few friends. founded a new site called monor maakan. publishing it downstairs from a law. office as the city's Main and perhaps. only Muk raker linaris quickly came to. dominate the local conversation. typically publishing big reports on. Monday or Tuesday contract fraud bribes. and police shakedowns and spending the. rest of the week posting supporting. documents on Twitter and. Facebook on Fridays he would Retreat to.

a little Studio at the back of the. newsroom to talk live with his sources. for his weekly. webcast the big story in 2021 was Juan. Antonio Gela sito's boyish and popular. mayor who 12 years earlier was arrested. by federal agents after his name. appeared on the payroll of a local drug. cartel the case against the mayor fell. apart and he stayed in politics heading. off to various Federal jobs he had.

recently made a successful bid to take. back the mayor's office this time with. men toing high power rifles their faces. covered in ski masks standing watch at. campaign. events laris's sources said the men were. from the halisco new generation. cartel and now a commander of that. cartel was on the other end of his cell. phone wanting to speak latus put two. fingers over the receiver and gestured. to another reporter in the new Newsroom. to come over quickly he needed him to.

tape the call linaris grabbed a notebook. and Pen putting the phone on. speaker who's this he said the caller. got straight to his point monor maakan. needed to stop taking shots at the local. government and the prosecutor's office. linaris interrupted he said the outlet. didn't take sides his job was to. document events nothing more but the. caller did not want want to debate the. role of Journalism in a democracy he.

said ladis would hear from him again and. then hung up 2 weeks later ladis was at. home when his phone bust this time with. a much more direct message on. WhatsApp you were told to stop trashing. the government the tech said I'm trying. to be your friend but if I can't you're. going to have problems with us stop. trashing the. prosecutor linaris at the message on his.

phone unsure of what to do next the. monor was investigating claims that the. city government was overpaying crony. contractors from Municipal lighting. projects and had also done reporting. that showed ties between the halisco. cartel and the prosecutor's office he. knew that the threat was serious and. that the promised problems almost. certainly meant death as another local. reporter told me killing a journalist is. very easy and very cheap.

linaris also knew the government was. likely to do little to protect him and. his. colleagues attacks on reporters in. Mexico were almost never solved by. investigators who were often themselves. either terrified of or in League with. the killers the journalists were on. their own there was a phrase the editor. had long repeated in The. Newsroom we have only our pens to defend. ourselves he set his phone aside. the montor would keep publishing just as.

it always. had who's who in. lies the world has become an. increasingly dangerous place for. reporters but outside the war in Ukraine. no place is more deadly for them than. Mexico since the central government. began its brutal and chaotic War on. Drugs in 2006 at least 128 reporters. have been killed there according to the. committee to protect journalists 13 of.

them last year alone a chilling record. Mexican journalists have faced phone. hacks death threats beatings torture and. in one case grenade attacks on their. Newsroom they face these perils in part. because the authorities whose job it is. to protect them have in many instances. long been infiltrated by the. cartels herado Garcia Luna Mexico's. former Secretary of public security for. example was convicted in the United.

States this year for taking millions of. dollars and bribes from the caloa cartel. in the early 2000s when he was head of. the Mexican equivalent of the. FBI and in 2014 police officers in the. rural City igua kidnapped 43 students on. buses headed for a March in Mexico City. and handed them over to a drug cartel. that mistakenly assumed they were part. of an attack from a. rival this year a trove of text messages. showed that nearly every branch of.

government in the region including. Soldiers the police and a local mayor. were communicating with the cartel which. killed the students and incinerated some. of them in a. Crematory unable to protect journalists. where they work Mexico resorted to. hiding them in safe houses across the. country after years of increasing. entanglement with criminal groups The. Mexican government is in some sense in a. battle with itself with case after case. in which the government is or at least.

appears to be as involved in the crime. as in the. punishment sometimes the connection is. clear in 2017 miroslava BR valusa a. journalist in Mexico's Northern State. Chiwawa was shot dead by a drug gang. after years of reporting on corruption. and criminal groups a former mayor BR. had reported on ug ahed Schulz alaras. later admitted to passing along. recordings of the journalist to members. of the gang that killed her and was.

sentenced to 8 years in prison for his. role in her. death but concerns about government. complicity often fall on deaf fears in. 2014 Ruben Espinosa a 31-year-old. photographer began receiving threats. after the news magazine processo. published a picture he took of Javier D. de Ooa then governor of the state of. Veracruz in an article declaring it a. lawless state in 2015 after fleeing.

Veracruz Espinosa was shot to death with. four others in an apartment in Mexico. City at least 17 reporters from Vera. Cruz were killed while dwarte held. office a gruesome record the former. Governor is now in prison on organized. crime charges but he has never been. indicted in connection with any of the. killings of5 investigations of killings. of journalists in Mexico since 2010 only. six resulted in homicide sentences.

according to Human Rights. Watch far from defending journalists. some of the country's most prominent. officials have turned on them in 2021. president Andres Manuel Lopez orador. added a new weekly segment to his. morning press briefing called Who's Who. in. lies in December he took aim at three. reporters including cro Gomez Lea a. prominent television anchor saying that. if you listen to them too much you could.

even get a brain tumor the next day. Gomez Lea was driving home from his. broadcast when two men on a motorcycle. opened fire on his car the anchor. survived only because the car was. equipped with bullet resistant glass. windows Armando Linares knew that. investigating the local government could. be risky on many. levels at his last news outfit a daily. broad sheet called el desper. he had spent months looking into.

connections between the state. prosecutor's office and the drug gangs. it was supposedly. pursuing his colleagues had warned him. that the newspaper was dependent on ads. from the local government soon enough. the State Attorney General called a. meeting with the newspaper's owner. seeking to shut down the reports when. latus heard about the meeting he. confronted the owner and soon left the. paper several of his colleagues told me. though it was unclear if he had been. fired or resigned out of.

protest one former colleague described. ladis to me as the kind of Street. reporter who was so plugged in that he. sometimes showed up at crime scenes. before the. police but he also had had drinking. problems and years before went to rehab. for drug addiction he was married but. hadn't lived in the same house as his. wife and three children in. years Joel Vera tasas his colleague at. monor mijan told me that report boing is. what saved Armando from Armando from his.

demons when Vera a prominent attorney in. sitaro spotted linaris at a traditional. Mexican sweat lodge on the outskirts of. town after he parted ways with El despar. he said he could see the toll the last. months had taken on his friend and so. Vera made linaris a proposal he would. bank roll a new outlet in town with. linaris at the. helm on a Monday morning in 2019 the.

staff of monor maakan gathered in its. Newsroom a small office downstairs from. Vera's Law Firm among those there was. Roberto TOA barera a former bus driver. who signed up to work as the Outlet's. cameraman and photographer wi Sebastian. hoing a lawyer in Vera's office was. hired as a part-time researcher Vera. would take care of the business end and. write his own weekly column and linaris. as as Vera had promised was now the.

Outlet's editor and Lead writer Vera. eventually bought a suit and matching. shoes for ladis and insisted that he. wear them to interviews but other than. that verat lares he wouldn't interfere. with his work linaris now had a type of. Freedom he hadn't felt before something. few journalists in Mexico have ever. enjoyed he was in charge of his own. outlet and was editorially. independent no that's Duma he told The.

Newsroom don't sell your. [Music]. pen I fear for my life in the two years. that monor mijan had been publishing. over the course of dozens of. Investigations linaris had never. received such a direct threat as the. ones leveled by the mysterious call and. WhatsApp message Vera decided to seek. help from the authorities but no one in. The Newsroom trusted officials in sitak. instead Vera traveled with Linares to.

Mexico City where they met officials. from the federal prosecutor's office. devoted to crimes against Free Speech. the unit sits under Mexico's Attorney. General's office which has broad powers. to help protect journalists including. offering referrals for extraction into. the government safe houses for an hour. Vera explained to an official the work. the monor had been doing and the threats. they had received he provided a list of. nine politicians among them saku's mayor.

and local prosecutor Who The Newsroom. believed could have been behind the. threat but the official Vera told me. seemed unmoved by the story saying such. threats happened often and the matter. would probably blow over Vera and ladis. left the office empty-handed no referral. for extraction or any other protective. measure linaris told no one else in. sakaro about the threat not even his. wife he he continued his investigations.

publishing stories about the inflated. Municipal lighting contracts and a. detective who lad's soures claimed was. charging Crime Victims up to 10,000. bessos roughly. $480 at the time to. investigate if there's no money there. are no investigations he. wrote soon the situation with the eagle. escalated the cartel boss called again. to demand a little support payment to. the the group and then again and again.

the requested amounts varied with each. call but the eagle eventually settled on. the sum of 500,000 bessels roughly. [Music]. $24,000 linaris and Vera realized that. they were now trapped in the same kind. of extortion scheme that they had spent. years reporting on they stalled for time. and beta called an acquaintance who was. a martial arts instructor for some. security advice the instructor suggested. installing video cameras as well as a.

second door at the entrance of The. Newsroom which could be opened by a. buzzer only after arrivals passed. through the first the doors would be. made of steel reinforced to withstand. bullets even if Intruders made it pass. the first door they would find a locked. door between themselves and The. Newsroom beta knew the payment couldn't. be avoided if he wanted The Newsroom to. remain. safe he and his wife withdrew money from. their savings and some of the staff set.

up a collection from friends in mid. December linat settled on a day to make. the handoff but the location of the. rendevu was. unusual the eagle wanted to meet at the. plaza in front of the mayor's office the. wads of money didn't fit into an. envelope and so ladis found a paper bag. to stuff 500,000 pesos into at 10:00. a.m. too arrived with a bag of cash as. lenardis watch from a corner and sasan. from a parked car two men from the.

cartel arrived parking in slots reserved. for government employees their faces. were covered and it was impossible to. tell whether the eagle had come or sent. two of his. lieutenants whatever the payment. achieved it did not prevent the arrival. of another far more menacing. threat a fake Facebook account posted. Linus's WhatsApp profile picture which. showed him standing with a.

woman that was somewhat worrying even. more worrying was that the post claimed. that the woman in the photo was related. to a leader of celes unidos a rival of. the Eagles cartel and that lenardis was. in League with them the danger was. immediately clear to everyone in The. Newsroom in the past before deadly hits. against journalists mysterious messages. often surfaced linking reporters to. cartel. groups sometimes Mexican officials even.

played up the supposed connections with. little evidence this allowed the killing. to look like another hit among cartel. members and offered an easy excuse to. avoid an. investigation Vera sat with the other. members of The Newsroom for a moment. deliberating about what to do linaris. headed to the transmission room Toledo. followed him in flipping on the switches. of the camera as the two prepared a. Facebook live.

broadcast ladis was wearing a yellow. puffer jacket and a face mask which he. pulled off before he began to. speak good evening friends of monor mwan. he. began he explained the mysterious. Facebook post and said the woman had. nothing to do with any criminal. group the fake online profiles Were. Meant to spread disinformation and. distract from the actual ual news that. they were publishing using the usual.

logic we know these attacks come. directly from our public. officials linaris continued in the last. days and weeks there have been killings. of journalists who have exposed corrupt. governments he said the same thing could. happen here in sakaro he added today I. can tell you this I fear for my life and. I will be seeking Federal. Protection Mexico has very strict gun.

laws but many people do carry them. illegally that fall Vera had gotten a. pistol from a friend first he tried to. give the gun to linaris who turned him. down he approached Toledo. next take it Roberto Vera said you carry. it you're the one on the streets but too. declined too he shot photos he reasoned. not not. bullets no boss you keep it he said.

handing the gun back to vaa if they come. then I will take the bullet for. [Music]. you we're here from City. Hall Toledo started the morning of. January 31st 2022 with they stop at the. prosecutor's office the monor had a.

running tally of surprise visits it made. to various municipal buildings to see if. workers were present during their. Post-it office. hours as usual there wasn't much to see. so Toledo took a photo of the empty. desks his cell phone rang and it was. Vera on the line with a request could. Toledo bring a couple of bottles of Coke. back to the office the photographer. stopped at a corner store then headed. back in the direction of The. Newsroom at the same time several men on.

motorcycles approached monor mijan and. parked on a side street with a view of. the. entrance two of the men walked up to the. building as Toledo coax in hand rang the. buzzer speaking through the intercom vaa. asked the strangers why they were there. we're here from City Hall one of the men. said but this looked nothing like an. official visit one of the men wore a. gray hoodie with the Hood pulled down. low and the other was in a baseball cap.

only their eyes could be seen above. their face masks Vera buzzed too through. the first door and the two men came in. behind him Sebastian cracked open the. second door then shed it immediately. when he saw guns a a called The Man in. the hoodie do it gunfire rang out Toledo. raised his arms out of instinct as. though he could block the bullets they. tore through his forearms and pierced. his torso Vera watched all this.

petrified through the Clos circuit video. cameras then he shook himself and. grabbed his gun from his desk heading to. the front of The Newsroom he crouched. down taking a firing position with his. finger on the. trigger another volley of bullets rang. out hitting the door several times the. door held there were more words outside. than the sound of a motorcycle speeding. away finally Vera put down his.

gun someone called an ambulance sasan. rushed outside for a second too still. seemed very much himself his black. running shoes still on his feet his. cigarettes and big pens still in his. pocket yet he was in a pool of blood. there were three bullet holes in his. stomach and others in his arms his. sternum and his. shoulder bullet fragments were lodged in. his heart liver and. intestines he was saying something but.

no one could hear him Vera Drew. closer they got me was all they. heard they got. me paramedics rushed too to the hospital. for a moment there was only silence in. The Newsroom Lattis walked in the door. having rushed back from an interview in. another part of town except for him and. too everyone was at their desks when the. gunmen arrived Vera's pistol would have. been no match for them Vera thought if.

they had broken through the entire. Newsroom would have been. dead it was the only hopeful thought. that Vera could muster at that moment. but even that bit of Solace was. shattered when the phone. rang Toledo had died on his way to the. hospital then came another blow. detectives from the prosecutor's office. the very people ladis had made his. career denouncing as corrupt were Now. setting up crime scene tape and.

collecting. shells the officials asked for a. statement and latus refused saying he. didn't trust them then he went into his. office cried collected himself and. finally approached. Vera we can do a broadcast he said in a. low voice Vera looked at Laris. announcing the shooting online felt like. a terrible. idea no leave it be he said they.

finished us they finished us oh man no. broadcast this will only bring us. problems but linaris didn't care he went. into the transmission room and started. flipping on the switches to the. computers and microphones they came so. naturally to him they processed so rough. that for a moment he forgot that his. camera operator was dead the LI Roberto. he called Cal down before he realized. his.

mistake my friends were going to. broadcast now and it will be brief he. said into the. camera today a member of our team has. been. assassinated his website had. investigated the city's political Elite. and had received death threats in return. He said now The Newsroom had paid the. price but they would not stop work he. said they had a list of names of those. behind the attack and soon he warned.

information will be. flowing we're not armed we don't carry. weapons our only defense is a pen a. pencil and a notebook he said raising. the spiral pad that sat next to. him I regret this is how things are that. there are attempts to destroy freedom of. expression and the right to true and. time timely. information I have pointed the finger at.

some people and some. politicians and today I will say it. again I will keep. reporting I will keep after these people. then he added we will take this to The. Bitter. End the people will protect me laris's. broadcast had barely begun to circulate.

on social media when another report. emerged investigators on the scene had. found two notes written on colorful. poster board left beside Toledo's body. one of them signed by the halisco new. generation cartel said this is what. happens to lawyers who take on the cases. of La Familia mawakana a rival. cartel Vera found himself suddenly on. the defensive many lawyers throughout. Mexico had worked with drug traffickers.

at times legally by defending members in. court against charges but sometimes. illegally by setting up shell companies. to launder drug proceeds for example vaa. had represented a number of business. interests in sakaro over the years. including one of its bus companies but. never he said anything affiliated with. organized crime if there had been any. links he told me it would have been. apparent to the journalist that the. monor their Newsroom shared an office. with his.

firm it became clear to Vera that the. notes were part of a broader campaign. that evening when iwak himself gave an. interview to reporters on millennial. television a national Cable News. Network I'd like to First make some. clarifications the mayor said of the. killing the preliminary information that. we have is that this wasn't a journalist. as the mayor spoke he repeated repeated. several times that the attack had. occurred at illegal office and he never.

mentioned the monor by name ector Samar. one of the reporters looked skeptical. saying that too had worked at the. monitor the mayor replied that he hadn't. found too's name registered with the. journalist guilt the other reporter paa. barette pointed out that too had. received death threats from the work he. had done I don't know if he got threats. or not the mayor replied. reporters from Mexico City began to call.

Vera for comment had too not been a. journalist after all what did Vera make. of the messages that seemed to have been. left for him by the cartel the questions. angered him if these journalists in the. capital had covered sitaro before this. they would have seen Doo at work when he. was alive but the monor had been one of. the few outlets on the ground and the. only one investigating the mayor's. office if he lawak and his City. officials had in fact ordered the attack.

to stop the negative coverage then. claiming too wasn't a journalist was. simply a means to obscure the motive. Vera thought about the messages left by. the attackers crime scene evidence in. Mexico was typically confidential before. a trial yet many reporters now seem to. know about the notes claiming that vetta. was working with a drug cartel Veta. suspected it was the prosecutor's office. that was leaking the information to. discredit them. the monor rudderless in the hours since.

the attack on its Newsroom was no longer. in control of the news cycle in. sakaro the government was and the. narrative was this the attack on The. Newsroom had nothing to do with its. journalism the story seemed to be. solidifying at the highest level that. afternoon Jesus Ramirez quas the. spokesman for Lopez orador had condemned. the assassination of the journalist. Roberto Toledo in a statement from the.

president's office but that evening he. issued a new statement according to. judicial investigations the citizen. Roberto Toledo who was assassinated. today worked as an assistant in a. lawyer's office not as a journalist Vera. decided that he would have to leave the. task of correcting the record for. another day so long as he and his team. were in Sito their lives remained in.

danger he called Laris and said they. needed to leave town. immediately we would be letting them win. linat said by then the federal. government had offered latus the. possibility of extraction into a safe. house but putting himself in the hands. of one branch of government to protect. himself from another seemed not just. absurd but like a potentially deadly. Gamble. Vera was insistent whoever attacked The.

Newsroom had already one monor mijan. could no longer safely publish he said. no story was worth their lives but. linaris argued that his life wasn't in. danger don't be a fool Vera replied he. was yelling now what would I do linaris. asked how would I make my living Vera. realizing that his friends would be. crushed if he lost his work back.

down linaris lived alone with two dogs. on some days his sources were his only. human contact Vera and sasan left sakaro. deciding they would try to persuade. Laris to join them. later linaris acting on his vow to take. this to The Bitter End had spent the. afternoon lining up a long series of. television and radio interviews in which. he he linked the local government to the. killing in one ladis repeated his claim.

that the mayor's office had been behind. the threats adding that just a half hour. before his phone rang with another one. he did not hide the fact that he had. decided to remain in. sakaro some people of our team decided. to leave today but some of us have to. stay to continue this battle he. said as the days passed Vera persuaded. linaris to make a statement to the. federal authorities in Mexico City it.

would be to the same Federal officials. who sent them back empty-handed after. the previous threats but linaris. realized there were few other options. for about an hour he gave his statement. to investigators at the Free Speech. crimes unit offering a list of officials. in sakuro who he said were behind the. threatening. messages he noted that the cartel had. been clear in every call that the. threats had come because the monitor was. screwing the government and Toledo he.

said again was a. journalist I want to state that I am. scared that I fear that they will come. and attack me he. concluded that's all I wish to. add the authorities again seemed unmoved. linaris was offered a referral to leave. sakuro but when he turned it down he was. not given other measures like a. government bodyguard or a panic butt. typically provided to journalists who. choose to stay in their hometowns the.

officials thanked him for his testimony. and said they would be in touch if they. had more. questions after the interview linaris. Anda who had come along to support him. went to a coffee shop near the. prosecutor's office but I tried one more. time to persuade him to leave. sakuro linaris said he would make it. where he was he had a following there. especially in the Indigenous. Community the people will protect me he.

said later that month investigators. released Toto's remains from custody and. Vera paid the expenses for them to be. returned to his home state Morelos about. a 4-Hour drive from. sitaro Vera in hiding watched over a. zoom call as a mariachi band played. Toledo's son lifted his phone so Vera. could see the coffin of his friend. lowered into the. ground alone in The Newsroom linis tried.

to create a semblance of normaly he did. a broadcast from the Central Plaza in. the nearby Town OKO to interview the. mayor about remodeling the roof of the. Town Hall he drove to the north of. sakaro to report from the crime scene of. a nighttime shooting but he remained. scared and Vera remained frightened for. him finally in March her friend friend. managed to change Linus's mind it would.

take just a few days to put together the. money and then he would. flee no one will thank you on March 15th. two men on a motorcycle began to prow. the area around Linus's home it was just. before lunchtime and a nearby food. vendor was Hawking tacos and corn the. motorcycle headed One Direction slowly. along North Dr Emilio Garcia Street and. then a minute later doubled back the man. riding on the back stepped off he was.

looking for ladis he said to one of the. neighbors he was a soccer fan and wanted. to publish something in monitor. maakan someone must have pointed to. laris's door at around 6:00 p.m. linaris. posted an article about a motorcycle. accident then headed home as he. approached his door a man walked toward. him wearing a black suit and a red tie. the man greeted Laris who looked up and. greeted him back they shook hands then. spoke for a moment before heading inside.

Linus's apartment about 5 minutes later. the man in the suit was seen running. from the. building we'll never know what the two. men discussed we'll never know exactly. when the man in the red tide drew the. gun he was hiding and fired it at. Lattis the police found his body riddled. with eight rounds it was 43 days after. do. murder now in hiding Vera felt helpless.

he had been told by the police not to. speak out about the monitor to avoid. attracting attention from Criminal. groups yet he needed somewhere to put. his anger so many times he and ladis had. discussed the importance of reporting. done in the public interest they once. called themselves soldiers of Journalism. and civil rights they thought there had. been an understanding that that should. the monor come under threat Those whom. they had stood up for would come to.

their defense there would be marches. signs hung at the mayor's office there. would be something they. thought and yet at his moment of need. linaris died alone and scared himself. accused of ties to drug. traffickers you can write an article and. give your life and no one well thank you. better told. me is it worth publishing if it puts.

your life in. Risk I'm still thinking about that. question we said let's do it let's. go but now I. wonder was this worth two dead. callings the day after laris's death. Vera decided to close monor Mangan there. would be no more VIs visits to town hall. and no more broadcasts from the. transmission room there would be no.

website Beyond a Facebook page the years. of Investigations in sitaro would. disappear from the. internet those who had attacked them and. one news was spreading about the murder. of linaris another local journalist. began to hear rumors that more reporters. would be killed after seeing motorcycles. circling the neighborhood the journalist. fled soon afterward another local. journalist did the same the Press Corps.

in sakaro was. duning Linus's funeral was held the day. after his killing at a funeral home a. few blocks from the municipal Cemetery. it was a hot day for March and the scent. of roses and Lilies hung in the air most. of the seats in the chapel were empty. Vera sent a wreath he and Sebastian once. again watched the live stream from their. government safe. houses laris's wife Rosa Elena pedrasa.

attended along with her children when a. cameraman from a national news station. approached her for an interview she said. she would talk just not on. camera he knew that his life was in. danger but his passion for speaking the. truth pushed him never to shut up she. said the few people people who had. arrived didn't remain long filing out to. allow Linus's family one last moment.

with his coffin they too left leaving a. handful of reporters who had come to. cover the. funeral minutes later four unknown men. arrived at the funeral one wore a. leather jacket and a ski mask to cover. his face holding a gun he approached the. reporters and said if you don't get out. of here in 2 minutes you're going to be. be. sorry he didn't fire the journalists.

left the funeral. home I was not the. Mastermind in February just after the. anniversary of Toledo's death I met Vera. in Mexico City i' had been talking to. him for several months we would meet. over Zoom after he had breakfast and. talk for an hour or two before making. plans to speak again we sent each other. Christmas greetings asked after each. other families but when I asked him if. we could meet at his safe house he said.

he preferred to travel to the capital. Vera wanted his location to remain. unknown even to me the buzzer rang at. the office where we had agreed to meet. and Veta walked in holding a large stack. of legal. documents in the years since he fled. sakaro he had become a kind of private. investigator trying to gather what. information he could about the deaths of. linaris and Toledo he was forced to live. in the shadow of incredible. uncertainty on one hand he said he.

believed it was sako's local government. officials who orchestrated the killings. of his colleagues on the other hand the. federal government was running the safe. house that he was living in Now Beta. insisted that neither could be trusted. to solve the murder cases there had been. no arrests and little sign of. Investigation I want to show you whose. side the government is on Vera said he. pulled up a document sliding it across. the table a Judicial decision about a.

wiretap that Federal investigators asked. for before Linus's death but the. authorities hadn't only asked to listen. to the phones of the cartel man who had. threatened them they wanted to tap the. phones of Vera and lades a judge. rejected the request saying the victims. of a crime shouldn't be surveilled this. way beta was convinced the investigators. were trying to gather dirt on him and. ladis that would undermine them somehow. we've been victimized twice now first.

directly by the attack the deaths. everything and then the state is trying. to cast doubt on us he said they should. be investigating these politicians not. Armando and. me the next morning I took a bus to the. special Prosecutor's unit in charge of. crimes against Free Speech the same. office where Vera and linaris filed. their original complaints much had. changed since their initial visit when. they returned to sakaro empty-handed. with two journalists killed at the same.

Outlet the monor's case had become one. of the most notorious to reach the. office in years Ricardo Sanchez Perez. deloso the young prosecutor who heads. the office greeted me formally and. offered a description of the inner. workings of his. unit the department had been charged. with among other tasks taking over. investigations of attacks on journalists. when local investigators or elected. officials might themselves be complicit. he said that in this particular case a.

group of experts had reviewed the work. of monor mwan the threats and the. evidence from the crime scene what came. next took me by. surprise we determined that we are not. taking on the case he said of Doo's. death our analysis determined that. nothing he published wrote or gave an. opinion on as a journalist was linked to. the circumstance of his. homicide it was the same for Lattis I.

stopped the prosecutor for a moment I. told him I had a copy of the state. Prosecutor's case File and it contains. page upon page of threats from an. alleged cartel Commander saying the. monor needed to stop criticizing the. government for there would be. consequences there were screenshots of. laris's phone with the WhatsApp messages. Sanchez seemed surprised that I had the. documents and warned that they they were. confidential he said again that there. was little evidence the crime had to do.

with journalism and no need for him to. take over the case michaan's State. prosecutor was handling the case. instead that appeared to conclude the. conversation but as he packed up to head. to a hearing I reminded Sanchez that the. threats against the monor were sent to. stop the corruption investigations of. the same prosecutor's office that was. now assigned to solve their killings the. office investigating the case had. repeatedly been named as one of the. suspects in the attacks by ladis could.

they really be trusted to solve a crime. that the newspaper had accused them of. being behind Sanchez said he was only. following the law I can't change what's. in the Constitution he told me on his. way. out the state prosecutor's office never. reped to my requests for an. interview butak the mayor agreed to. answer my written questions about lad's. accusations that he had ordered the. attacks I was not the Mastermind or The.

Man Behind the threats against monor. mokan or any other media outlet and for. that matter I have no relationship with. any person who calls himself the eagle e. lawak wrote in fact he wrote no. investigator had ever questioned him in. the case islak offered his condolences. to the victims and said monor Chan's. criticism of the local government had on. occasion pointed to legitimate problems.

he tried to fix as. mayor his office later sent a statement. calling most of the claims made by the. outlet a. lie as for the armed cartel gunman who. were seen at events during his campaign. iok wrote the election had been a fair. one and if such an assertion about links. to Armed groups carried any weight the. election would have gone the other. way he had long been a target of dirty.

politics by his opponents he wrote. including during his initial arrest for. supposedly working with a cartel in 2009. the former Secretary of public security. whose spearheaded his arrest was now. being detained in the United States for. his collaboration with cartel groups the. mayor wrote referring to the case of. hanaro Garcia Luna while he himself. remained a free man I knew the mayor's. statement was true in at least one. regard Mexico's government had been. corrupted at almost nearly every level.

Mexico is a Hall of Mirrors to any. journalist it is so hard to tell who is. telling the truth because the line. between crime fighter and criminal has. become so blurred it often ceases to. exist the people who were supposed to. clarify that line were the local. reporters at monor mijan but of course. they too were gone see dad is a zone of. Silence the recent months have only left.

more cases piling up on July 8th the. body of Luis Martin Sanchez inz a. correspondence for the newspaper La. Horna was found dead with signs of. violence according to authorities in the. state of. narit a week later Nelson matus paa a. photographer and editor in nakul was. shot dead in his car I knew matus from. when he shot photos for an article I.

wrote about drug gang hits in. 2011 one afternoon in August I was. scanning the local papers in Mexico when. I came across a headline the police had. captured a suspect in Linus's killing it. appeared to have happened somewhat by. accident he was caught with two other. gang members when their truck was seen. speeding in front of a police. station when the police ran his name. Carlos Gerardo Sanchez Mendoza through. the system they found an arrest warrant.

from the mijan prosecutor's office. seeking him in connection with the. murder the authorities said he had gone. by the Alias O2 as a member of the. halisco new generation. cartel not long afterward I received a. message from Sebastian the researcher at. monor mijan who was on the other side of. the door when Roberto too was. Shan we had been in communication. several times during my reporting and I. wanted to know if the news had given him. any sense of calm it hadn't maybe Sanz.

had pulled the trigger he said but if he. was the Hitman then who ordered the. attack the arrest wasn't the only reason. Sebastian had asked to speak that. evening he wanted to tell me that the. government agency in charge of the safe. house that he was staying in had. notified him that he would no longer. need their protection the decision had. happened before Sanchez's arrest so it. was far from Clear how the government.

concluded that the threat was. gone Sebastian paused on the other end. of the line as though the news needed to. sink in for him as. well he had been in hiding for the. better part of 2 years and his wife and. three-year-old son were leading the same. precarious life with him he had felt a. higher calling to be a journalist but. that vanished long ago rep placed Now by. a simple desire for. survival in many ways it was the same in.

sakaro itself. now a few reporters had stepped in to. fill the vacuum left by those who fled. and someone had even started posting. regularly again on moror mahan's. Facebook page but the tone was different. the pigeons of sitaro also formed part. of the image of our city was what ran. over a series of photos of birds in the. City's main Square there were no signs. of the muck raking the outlet was known.

for sakaro is a zone of Silence now. Sebastian. said Sebastian was no longer a reporter. but he retained The Gallows humor that. has become so common among journalists. in Mexico he would challenge the. decision to end most of his protection. he said but even if he lost his safe. house he would still have his government. issued panic. button when the Hitman comes and wants. to kill me again I'll tell him just give.

me a minute please. Hitman let me press my panic. [Music]. [Music]. button.