2 Suspects in Journalist’s Death Are Cleared, Freed

Two suspects have been released in the death of U.S. journalist Philip True, who died while hiking in Mexico in 1998, a prison official said.

Juan Chivarra and Miguel Hernandez were freed after recent investigations concluded that True was not murdered but fell to his death. Charged with robbery and murder, both suspects had been held for more than two years, prison official Martin Ortiz said.

One autopsy found that True, a San Antonio Express-News reporter, had been strangled. Another showed that he was beaten to death. However, more recent investigations concluded that he had been drinking and fell, Reforma newspaper reported. However, True’s body was found in a shallow grave.

Chivarra and Hernandez say they were tortured into confessing.