Mexican Judge Frees Men Held in American’s Killing

In a ruling that stunned U.S. authorities and cast a fresh blot on this nation’s fragile justice system, a judge has freed a man who reportedly admitted to killing a U.S. businessman here.

The decision, which also freed four other suspects, outraged Mexican officials, who are under pressure to respond to a crime wave that is terrorizing the capital’s residents, and appears to be claiming an increasing number of American victims. Diplomats and analysts have warned that crime is becoming so severe here that it could discourage foreign investment and threaten Mexico’s emerging democracy.

The Dec. 15 slaying of Peter John Zarate, a real-estate executive, had prompted the U.S. government to upgrade its warning about crime issued to U.S. visitors. The killing occurred about the same time that two other American businessmen were kidnapped and held for several days--one in Tijuana, one in Acapulco.

“The release of the men [who] federal district prosecutors say confessed to the murder of U.S. citizen [Peter John] Zarate is deeply disturbing to us,” the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City said in a statement, adding that it was seeking an official explanation of the judge’s action.

Zarate, 40, a broker with the New York-based real estate firm Cushman & Wakefield and reportedly a former Orange County resident, was traveling in a taxi one evening last month in an upscale neighborhood when the vehicle was intercepted by a rogue cab. Two men boarded his taxi, tried to rob him and shot him when he resisted, prosecutors said.

The case caused a furor, and Cuauhtemoc Cardenas, the capital’s first elected mayor, responded with a vow to protect visitors to the city. Five suspects were arrested Dec. 30. They confessed to Zarate’s killing and 50 other assaults, prosecutors said.

But at midnight Friday, local Judge Maria Claudia Campuzano freed the men, the prosecutor’s office said in a statement Monday. According to prosecutors, the judge described the accused triggerman as “a modern Robin Hood who doesn’t only rob and distribute what he obtains in the robbery, but gives all the money to his sidekicks without any profit for himself.”

The judge told The Times that she was being ironic in calling the gunman a “Robin Hood.”

She released the suspects because their confessions contradicted each other and were at odds with evidence and witness accounts on such crucial matters as where Zarate was killed and how many shots were fired, she said.

Even the robbery motive was unproved, she added: The suspects’ account of how they divided the loot left their ringleader with no money.

“I’m sad about the death of Peter John, as I would be about any other person,” she said. “But I can’t hold people as suspects whom I can’t establish are suspects.”

Victor Antonio Carranca, an assistant Mexico City prosecutor, said at a news conference Monday that authorities would seek new evidence against the men and investigate why they were set free. “We can’t expect that when five suspects participate in a violent act and admit it, confessing and assigning responsibility to the other participants, that the five declarations are going to be exactly the same,” he said.

Among the five men freed was Alfonso Gonzalez Sanchez, alias “Chucky,” who was allegedly the gunman and ringleader.

Since the arrest of the suspects, several other victims have identified them as their attackers; five other investigations have been launched into their acts, Carranca said.

Analysts said the Zarate incident illustrated the severe problems in Mexico’s justice system, which has been unable to cope with an explosion of robbery, drug trafficking, kidnapping and other cases.

Less than 5% of reported crimes in Mexico result in convictions. Many people point the finger at judges who are poorly trained or corrupt. But, analysts say, in many cases, judges have no choice but to dismiss charges for lack of evidence.

Mexican police have traditionally been poorly trained in gathering evidence. It was so common for police to torture suspects into signing confessions that the law was changed several years ago to require corroborating evidence for self-incrimination, said Rafael Ruiz Harrell, a criminologist.

The release by judges of suspects--especially accused drug traffickers--has been a point of friction in the past between the U.S. government and Mexico.

Cardenas, who took office last month, has called crime the No. 1 problem of Mexico City and vowed to combat it. Recently, police began stopping the city’s distinctive green Volkswagen taxis, commonly used in assaults, to check suspicious behavior by occupants.

Almost 8 million Americans visited Mexico for at least a night in 1996, the most recent figures available; they spent nearly $4 billion. U.S. businesses are the biggest foreign investors in Mexico, pumping billions of dollars into the economy.

Robert Randolph of The Times’ Mexico City Bureau contributed to this report.