Police Arrest Suspect in Slaying of 2 U.S. Campers Near Ensenada

Mexican police Monday arrested a suspect in the weekend slayings of two U.S. campers--an Encinitas woman and a Connecticut man--who were killed outside Ensenada, authorities said.

The suspect, identified as Esteban Mendoza Snyder, 35, was a former municipal police officer in Ensenada, authorities said.

He was dismissed from the force more than a year ago after he was found to be extorting money from residents, said Miroslava Cuellar, a spokeswoman for the mayor’s office in Ensenada.

Although police were still investigating, officials said robbery was believed to have been the motive in the Saturday evening deaths. Police said it was not immediately known whether Mendoza has a prior criminal record.

The suspect was arrested Monday at about noon in the town of Benjamin Hill, near Hermosillo, in the Mexican state of Sonora, about 600 miles from Ensenada, said Ramon del Cid Valenzuela, chief of the Baja California state judicial police in Ensenada. Mendoza was being transported to Ensenada on Monday, the police official said.

He is charged in the deaths of James Wilkinson, 39, of New Haven, Conn., and Annette Marie Ary of Encinitas.

The two were killed shortly before midnight Saturday, police said. Wilkinson was shot and the woman was stabbed, police said. They were camping in an area known as Rancho Agua Caliente, a rural area about 40 miles southeast of downtown Ensenada, authorities said.

The suspect reportedly shot Wilkinson after he left the campsite to check on some odd noise. Afterward, when the woman attempted to flee in the couple’s car, Mendoza allegedly threw a rock through the car window and grabbed her, stabbing her with a small knife, according to press accounts. Her body was found near the car, and Wilkinson’s body was reportedly discovered in the trunk, indicating the suspect may have intended to transport the body away from the scene, the accounts said.

The commotion alerted nearby residents, who responded to the scene. The suspect, unable to start the couple’s car, reportedly fled on foot and returned to Ensenada. He then left for Benjamin Hill, police said.

Mendoza had been looking for work as a watchman in the area, police said. It was not immediately known whether the weapons were recovered or if the couple had actually been robbed.

If convicted, Mendoza could face up to 40 years in prison.