| | |  News Around the Republic of Mexico | September 2008 
Oregon Man Dies in Mexico Jail
 Associated Press
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Cabo San Lucas, Mexico — Six Mexican officers have been placed under house arrest on suspicion of homicide after an Oregon man died while in police custody in the resort city of San Jose del Cabo, a prosecutor said this week.
Baja California Sur state deputy prosecutor Omar Barajas said the officers were placed under house arrest Sunday, while authorities investigate whether they played a role in the death. He identified the victim as a 38-year-old man from Oregon, but the U.S. Embassy could not confirm his name or hometown.
News outlets in Oregon and Mexico have identified him as Sam Botner of Yoncalla.
Botner’s wife, Kim, told KMTR-TV of Eugene that police were called after her husband got into an argument with a man at a resort. She said the whole situation was a misunderstanding complicated by a language barrier.
Kim Botner said she was told the morning after her husband’s arrest that he had died. She said she identified the remains.
"The images in my brain will always be there," she told the station. "They beat him up bad. They beat him to death."
A medical examiner recorded minor bruises on the man’s face at the time of his arrest, but more were found on his body after his death, the prosecutor said.
Barajas said the police officers gave contradictory statements about the man’s incarceration. One confessed to kicking him in the face. Others said the victim hit his face on the ground when they pushed him to the floor to subdue him.
Surveillance video and witness statements indicate that officers struck the victim, Barajas said. |
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