Héctor Félix Miranda

Date of murder: April 20, 1988 Where and how murdered: It was 9:15 a.m. when a station wagon followed Félix’s automobile as he drove alone to work in Tijuana. At the bottom of a hill, a black Trans-Am blocked his path. A person — it was not clear whether he got out of the Trans-Am — fired two shots from a .12mm rifle at close range. One shot broke the window and hit Félix in the shoulder. The other ripped through his chest. Félix slumped to the passenger seat and died. The station wagon and Trans-Am made off at high speed. Possible motives: Allegations Félix had made about corruption, illicit enrichment, drug trafficking, torture, murder, etc. involving private persons and groups, as well as local, state and national government officials. Suspects in the crime: Two suspects were arrested, charged and sentenced: Victoriano Medina Moreno, a former member of the Judicial Police force in Baja California state and security guard at the Agua Caliente race track in Tijuana; and his boss, Antonio Vera Palestina, chief of security at the race track. Medina, who claimed police had tortured him into making a confession, was sentenced to 27 years’ imprisonment; Vera was given 25 years. No one has been accused or tried, or even questioned, for having arranged the murder. Violent consequences: There have been no reports of violence resulting directly from the murder. Irregularities in the legal proceedings: After Medina’s arrest and confession, in which he implicated Vera, police failed on to find out who might be behind the murder; instead it promptly closed the case. The day of the murder, Vera had received a payment equivalent to $10,000, a fact not followed up. The state attorney’s office said it would further investigate evidence of a financial link between Vera and the race track, but it never did. After Vera’s arrest, the state government lost interest in finding out who might have masterminded the murder. The case currently remains open but the investigation is at a standstill.