Another Canadian tourist killed in Mexico: police

May 18, 2008

THE CANADIAN PRESS

CABO SAN LUCAS, Mexico - Police say a Canadian tourist was shot and killed late Thursday inside his hotel room in the Mexican resort city of Cabo San Lucas.

State police commander Enrique Wuilar says a lone gunman shot 29-year-old Bouabal Bounthavorn three times in his hotel room.

Bounthavorn's girlfriend, 24-year-old Masha Heikali, was shot in one foot.

Wuilar says no one has been arrested in the killing and investigators have no leads.

Foreign Affairs in Ottawa has confirmed a Canadian was killed.

A department official said consular assistance was being provided to the family and consular officials were in contact with authorities investigating the death. But foreign affairs said it couldn't provide further details, citing the Privacy Act.

There has been a string of violent incidents involving Canadians in Mexico since 2007.

Domenic and Nancy Ianiero of Woodbridge Ont, were found with their throats slit in February, 2006 at a resort near Playa del Carmen, Mexico. No arrests were ever made.

In January, 2007, Adam DePrisco, 19, also of Woodbridge, was killed outside an Acapulco nightclub. A Mexican doctor blamed the teen's death on a hit-and-run driver, but his family and friends believed he was beaten to death.

In May, 2007, Jeff Toews of Grande Prairie, Alta, died from injuries after he visited a nightclub in Cancun. Mexican authorities concluded he fell from the second floor of his hotel, but at the time Toews' family said his head and back injuries came from a severe beating.

James Morton
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Toronto, Ontario
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