Mexico arrests man in beating of Canadian woman
Written by on January 27th, 2012 in Latest News.
A Mexican man has been arrested in the case of a Canadian woman who was brutally beaten at a five-star resort in Mazatlan.
Sheila Nabb, 37, was found unconscious last weekend in an elevator at the resort, where she was staying with her husband.
Marco Antonio Higuera Gomez, the attorney general of justice for the state of Sinaloa, confirmed at a news conference Friday that an arrest has been made in the case. The suspect is Jose Ramon Acosta Quintero, from Mazatlan. He was identified through a blood sample and a surveillance video, Gomez said.
Quintero, who speaks perfect English, would apparently visit tourist establishments and become friendly with foreigners, the attorney general said. The suspect is believed to be the same person seen in a hotel surveillance video kicking something in an elevator.
Quintero has admitted responsibility in the attack, Gomez said, and is likely to be charged with aggravated homicide.
Authorities are trying to find out if Quintero was involved in other attacks on tourists, he said. There had been a previous attack in the hotel where Nabb was staying.
Nabb’s family had thought she was too fragile to be went from the hospital in Mexico where she was being treated. But her uncle, Robert Prosser, said she was flown back to Vancouver on Thursday night. She arrived in Calgary on Friday morning via air ambulance, according to the Calgary Herald.
Prosser said her family is relieved she is back in the country and thanked everyone for their prayers. Nabb, who was raised in Nova Scotia, now resides in Calgary with her husband.
Surveillance video
On Wednesday, authorities said a surveillance video taken at the Mexican resort had become a key part of the investigation.
Marco Antonio Higuera Gomez, the attorney general of justice for the state of Sinaloa, said the video showed a man making a kicking motion and then leaving the elevator where Nabb was found.
Investigators were unable to speak with Nabb, who can’t talk due to her injuries.
She was scheduled to undergo facial reconstruction surgery at the Mazatlan hospital where she was being treated, but the operation was delayed because she contracted pneumonia.
Nabb’s husband was questioned by Mexican authorities in connection with the beating, her brother Paul Giles said earlier this week. But he was released when it “became apparent that he was innocent of any form of abuse,” Giles said.
