Mexican musician decapitated, wife and son killed

Oaxaca, Mexico | AFP |

Gunmen burst into a musician’s home in southern Mexico before dawn on Thursday, decapitated him and killed his wife and son, police said.

The armed group entered the family’s home in Juchitan, Oaxaca state, at 2:30 am and killed Victor Sanchez, 40, the singer of the tropical band Sensacion Caribu, the police said in a statement.

His wife and 11-year-old son were gunned down.

The state prosecutor’s office issued a separate statement saying that shots had been fired at Sanchez’s house a few months ago and that a note threatening him with death was left behind at the time.

Authorities are investigating whether the murders are linked to a dispute between rival criminal gangs.

Oaxaca has been relatively spared from the kind of drug cartel violence afflicting other regions of Mexico.

But it is the second massacre in Oaxaca this week.

On Monday, eight shark fishermen from the same family were killed in Puerto Escondido, a beach resort famous among surfers.

Authorities said they were investigating whether the fishermen were involved in illegal activities at sea.

Officials did not specify what type of activities but drugs are shipped along Mexico’s Pacific coast.