The Attorney General's Office of the State of Mexico reported that it has executed arrest warrants against three individuals for their probable participation in the homicide of Father Ernesto Baltazar Hernández Vilchis, a 43-year-old man who had been reported missing in the municipality of Tultitlán.
The detainees are Brandon Jonathan 'N', Fátima Isabel 'N', and María Fernanda 'N'. In a press release, the Attorney General's Office stated that the three accused participated in both the deprivation of the priest's life and his disappearance, for which they are charged with two distinct crimes: qualified homicide and disappearance committed by private individuals.
According to the investigation, on October 29, Hernández Vilchis was driving to a property located in the Unidad Habitacional Morelos, Third Section, in Tultitlán, accompanied by Fátima Isabel 'N', a trusted person for the victim. Brandon Jonathan 'N' was already at the location. For several hours, the three spent time together, 'consuming alcoholic beverages and narcotics' until, at some point, the latter allegedly assaulted the priest with an object, causing injuries that led to his death, the Attorney General's Office detailed.
Subsequently, María Fernanda 'N', Brandon Jonathan 'N's partner, is said to have assisted both in concealing the body, which was transported to the municipality of Nextlalpan and abandoned in a blackwater river on October 30.
The press release adds that, based on investigative acts, it has been proven both the probable involvement of the detainees and the conduct they displayed 'in order to carry out the criminal conduct, and as a result of the same, to cause the death of the victim and to provide assistance in concealing the body' and that 'the criminal fact of aggravated homicide is legally accredited' to the detriment of the priest.
On November 9, the Attorney General's Office conducted a search at a home in the Unidad Habitacional Morelos, where various pieces of evidence were located, including the victim's clothing, personal belongings, a priest's stole, sharp and blunt objects, as well as bloodstains detected using the 'blue star' test.
The Attorney General's Office explained that Brandon Jonathan 'N' and Fátima Isabel 'N' carried out the act to deprive the victim of life, while María Fernanda 'N' took subsequent actions to conceal and destroy evidence, such as cleaning the scene and eliminating fingerprints.
'The intent as a generic subjective element in the conduct of the aggressors would be accredited,' the press release stated.
The crimes of qualified homicide and disappearance committed by private individuals are punishable by sentences of up to 70 and 50 years in prison, respectively, according to the Criminal Code of the State of Mexico and the General Law on Forced Disappearance of Persons.
On November 14, the three individuals had already been arrested for disappearance committed by private individuals, and subsequently, they were charged with qualified homicide, now facing both charges.
