Arizona beheading raises fears of drug violence

Amanda Lee Myers

10/29/2010

The gruesome case of a man who was stabbed and beheaded in a suburban Phoenix apartment has police investigating whether the killing is potentially the most extreme example of Mexican drug cartel violence spilling over the border.

Martin Alejandro Cota-Monroy’s body was found Oct. 10 in a Chandler apartment – his severed head a couple feet away. One man suspected in the killing has been arrested, and a manhunt is under way for three others.

Detectives are focused on whether the men belong to a Mexican drug cartel, and they suspect that Cota-Monroy’s killing was punishment for stealing drugs. The brutal nature of the killing could be designed to send a message to others within the cartel.

And now… the rest of the story. …..

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