Ex-Officer Sentenced in Slaying of Researcher
In a landmark rights case, Guatemala’s Supreme Court of Justice has sentenced a former military officer to 30 years in prison for the 1990 murder of an anthropologist.
The court found Juan Valencia guilty Monday of ordering the killing of Myrna Mack, who was stabbed 27 times.
Valencia was originally convicted in 2002 but was released last May after an appeal, on grounds of insufficient evidence. The victim’s sister Helen Mack appealed the release. Myrna Mack had been researching the plight of Maya Indian refugees from Guatemala’s 1961-96 civil war when she was killed.
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