Policeman, 4 others arrested for murdering journalist in El Salvador

[Judi Lynn]

Policeman, 4 others arrested for murdering journalist in El Salvador
Date: September 10, 2009

Four suspects, including a policeman, have been arrested over Franco-Spanish journalist Christian Poveda's murder in El Salvador, police said, indicating the killing was ordered by a jailed gang member, Agence France-Presse (AFP) has reported.

"After an investigation, four people have been detained for involvement in the murder of Mr Poveda," assistant police director Mauricio Ramirez said. Poveda, 54, was found dead near his vehicle on a road north of the capital San Salvador on September 2. He had been shot in the face four times.

Some details:

Police described the four as a policeman and three members of Mara 18, the violent gang which Poveda meticulously chronicled for his 2008 film "La Vida Loca," about the heavily-tattooed gangsters who engaged in drug trafficking and extortion. The film had already been released but was set for a wider European distribution on September 30.

Police and the prosecutor's office said Poveda's murder last week has been ordered by Nelson Lazo Rivera, an imprisoned member of the same Mara 18 gang who ordered the hit because he believed Poveda was a police informant.

More:
http://www.newswatch.in/newsblog/4691

[Judi Lynn]

1. Five arrests for murder of French-Spanish journalist

Five arrests for murder of French-Spanish journalist
By m.p. - Sep 10, 2009 - 12:24 PM

Christian Poveda - EFE
A police officer is one of those in custody for the death of Christian Poveda in El Salvador

Police in El Salvador have arrested five people in connection with the death of the French-Spanish film-maker, Christian Poveda, who was found shot dead in a car outside the capital, San Salvador, last week.

He had recently made a documentary in El Salvador on the violent lives of the country’s street gangs.

4 members of the Mara-18, the street gang which was the subject of Poveda’s film, are amongst those in custody for his death. The fifth is a police officer named by EFE as Juan Napoleón Espinoza who, according to Howard Coto, sub-director of investigations for El Salvador police, was involved in extortion.

Coto said Poveda was killed after Espinoza told the gang members that members of the Mara-18 had been arrested on information he claimed the film-maker provided on them to police. Coto denied the claim as completely untrue, saying the only contacts Poveda had with the police were related to attempts to end the gang violence.

http://www.typicallyspanish.com/news/publish/article_23014.shtml

[Judi Lynn]

2. Gang members, police officer arrested in filmmaker's slaying (6)

Gang members, police officer arrested in filmmaker's slaying
updated 2 hours, 8 minutes ago

(CNN) -- Six men, including a police officer, are facing homicide charges in last week's killing of French filmmaker and photographer Christian Poveda in El Salvador, the attorney general's office said.

The suspect accused of ordering the slaying, Nelson Lazo Rivera, was already in prison, according to a statement Wednesday from the agency.

Officials gave no motive for the slaying and did not say why Lazo Rivera is incarcerated. El Diario de Hoy newspaper said he is in prison for several murders, including three slayings in 2003 known as the massacre of Samcap.

Poveda, 53, had recently finished a documentary about a violent street gang, part of the Mara 18 criminal group in El Salvador. He was found shot to death September 2 in the town of Tonacatepeque, about 10 miles northeast of the capital, San Salvador, authorities said.

Four of the suspects are members of the same Mara 18 gang that was the subject of Poveda's film, the attorney general's office said. Authorities identified them as Calixto Rigoberto Escobar (known as Toro), Jose Alejandro Melara (El Puma), Roberto Luis Romero (Tiger), and Miguel Angel Rosa (El Cholo).

National Civil Police Officer Juan Napoleon Espinoza also was arrested, the attorney general's office said. Officials did not say what his involvement in the crime may have been. But El Mundo, Diario Co Latino, El Faro and El Diario de Hoy newspapers said authorities believe the officer told gang members Poveda was giving information on the group to police.

According to El Diario de Hoy, police deputy director Mauricio Ramirez Landaverde said Espinoza was a Mara 18 member, who would drink with other members in his free time and also was involved in giving them weapons, ammunition and information.

More:
http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/americas/09/10/elsalvador.poveda/index.html?iref=mpstoryview