University of British Columbia student, boyfriend found murdered in Oaxaca state

Gruesome murder details disclosed in CBC interview with victim's former husband, who discovered both bodies buried on an isolated Oaxaca beach; area is frequented by Latin drug runners and human traffickers, he says

According to the British Columbia tabloid The Province, "Ximena Osegueda Magana, 39, and her boyfriend Alejandro Honorio Santamaria, 38, went missing on December 14. Their bodies were found on a beach in Huatulco, Oaxaca, later that month." Osegueda Magana was a Mexico City native. She was Ph.D candidate at UBC in the department of French, Spanish and Italian studies, and was focusing on colonial Latin American literature. She had earned both undergraduate and master's degrees at McGill University in Montreal.

It's clear that this was a case of homicide. More ominous for travelers, perhaps, is that after the couple disappeared their car was found near the Oaxaca International Airport.

Ximena's ex discusses brutal execution details, and the discovery of her body:
Here is a CBC video interview with Ximena's ex-husband, Jacy Wright, a Canadian. Wright, who lived for years in Oaxaca, traveled to Mexico in December to search the area where his former wife was last seen. The interview is informative, although the details are gruesome.

Wright personally uncovered Ximena's body. He says that the area where Ximena's remains and those of her boyfriend were buried is on a "gorgeous beach." Wright claims the locality is well-known for narcotics smuggling (by sea), and also for trafficking in undocumented persons from Latin America. He says that there have been many disappearances in the area, and other bodies undoubtedly remain buried there (he dug up another body on the same beach the day before finding Ximena). Wright is critical of local authorities in Oaxaca, and alleges that police don't thoroughly search for possible crime victims because they don't want to damage the tourist trade.

Wright claims that Ximena and her boyfriend were stabbed and shot, and that her hands had been restrained behind her back. He theorizes that the couple were alone on the isolated beach when they had a chance encounter with traffickers, possibly who had arrived by boat. The motive for the attack, in Wright's estimation, was nothing more than theft of their vehicle and whatever cash and valuables they had with them.

In an unrelated case, yesterday's edition of The Province also reported the murder of a Canadian national last week in a beach town in Jalisco state, near Puerto Vallarta. Robin Wood, 67, was shot Jan. 3 during a home break-in and robbery. The victim, a long-time resident of Saltspring Island and former auto mechanic, had wintered in Mexico for years.