Five arrested in murder of University of British Columbia student, boyfriend

Mexican authorities say they "take the security of Canadian travelers seriously"

Five persons have been arrested in the Mexican state of Oaxaca and charged with the robbery and murder of a Canadian national and her boyfriend late last year. Three women and two men were taken into custody, and police say three other accomplices remain at large.

Ximena Osegueda Magana, 39, and her boyfriend Alejandro Honorio Santamaria, 38, went missing on December 14, 2011. Their bodies were found on a remote beach in Huatulco, Oaxaca later that month. Osegueda Magana, a Mexico City native, was a UBC doctoral candidate in the department of French, Spanish and Italian studies at the time of her death, focused on colonial Latin American literature. Osegueda Magana had earned undergraduate and master's degrees at McGill University in Montreal.

Jacy Wright, a Canadian citizen and Ximena's ex-husband, lived in Oaxaca for many years. When she and her boyfriend mysteriously disappeared he traveled to Mexico to search for them, fearing the worst. He found both of their bodies within a couple of days, as well as that of another murder victim. Wright claims the area is well-known for narcotics smuggling and trafficking in undocumented persons from Latin America. He says there have been many disappearances in the region. Wright is critical of authorities in Oaxaca, and has alleged that police don't thoroughly search for possible crime victims because they don't want to harm the local tourist trade or the area's reputation for inherent safety.

Wright says that Ximena and her boyfriend were stabbed and shot, and claims 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 other valuables they had with them. Based upon evidence gathered by Mexican authorities, that appears to be the probable motive.

CTV News May 8, 2012 video report: http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/Canada/20120508/mexican-arrests-made-in-osegueda-murder-120508/.

January 6, 2012 CBC video interview with ex-husband Jacy Wright: http://www.cbc.ca/video/#/News/Canada/BC/1258521056/ID=2184527842.

University of British Columbia student, boyfriend found murdered in Oaxaca: http://mexicogulfreporter.blogspot.mx/2012/01/university-of-british-columbia-student.html.