Murder in Jocotepec

So they are "persons of interest", but not actually charged?

Well they have been arraigned and are being investigated but not been found guilty.

The photo of the three subjects above is with the story in the El Gratuito link that Axixic posted but I couldn't make it post with the story. You can see it in the link though...those are definitely the guys being questioned.

Was John gay? I saw a rude comment in the comment section of another link , I couldn't tell if it was directed at the deceased or the subjects that have been arrested.

I do not recognize any of the men in the photo. If one was a gardener, I do not think he worked at the park. And John never mentioned anything about being gay, and he was never seen with any strange men or women at the park.

Trailrunner wrote:Maybe there's 2 bodies. . .

"...there is two..."? There was one body. There were not two bodies in this crime.

Dr. Sam Thelin wrote:

Trailrunner wrote:Maybe there's 2 bodies. . .

"...there is two..."? There was one body. There were not two bodies in this crime.

I talked to friends, who still live in Roca Azul, and they agreed with Sarge. They know the person who went to the trailer to see if John Paul was OK. This person said it appeared that John Paul had fallen, hit his head, and choked on his own vomit. It really does sound like two different incidents.

'Curiouser and curiouser!' cried Alice...

Maybe both narratives are correct. What if the three guys smacked him around and left. He then fell, bled, vomited and choked?

My friends living out there report Sean Godfrey of the GR was out this afternoon talking to the residents. Maybe we'll know more Friday.

Yep, curiouser and curiouser. . .

There are photos of this crime scene.

"The photos show a body in a state of decomposition. The left arm was cut off very clean, not like typical sawing or cutting. This was a very clean cut and the bone looked like a straight cut too. The bone was extended slightly from the arm tissue, probably due to dehydration and shrinking. The arm was cut off about half way between the shoulder and elbow. The background appeared to be a regular floor. The amputated portion of the arm was not in the pictures.

The eyes were bulging from under his eyelids - some may say a sign of strangulation, but more likely gas pressure from the bacteria thriving inside the dead body. Death probably resulted from blood loss from the amputation of the arm"

I have not seen the coroner's report and I don't have any first hand knowledge of the crime details outside of the crime scene photos. My husband is a doctor, a member of the medical community in Chapala and this information came to me while I was at work in his office today.
Ms. Thang

If someone from the GR was in the park and spoke to the residents then they probably got the parks sanitized view. (imagine the hypnotist waving his hand in front of your face...nothing happened here..nothing to see all natural causes.) I HATE BEING LIED TO. I am an adult and understood John's lifestyle. No cause for shock from me.

Thanks to Ms. Thang for an accurate description. I also heard the same from my connections.

Talked to someone last night who has seen the crime photos and has no dog in this hunt. It was as ugly as it has been described. Lies, lies, and more lies.
Will be interesting to see if GR prints the lies and cover-up or if they actually dug for the truth.

Flamingo wrote:

Dr. Sam Thelin wrote:

Trailrunner wrote:Maybe there's 2 bodies. . .

"...there is two..."? There was one body. There were not two bodies in this crime.

I talked to friends, who still live in Roca Azul, and they agreed with Sarge. They know the person who went to the trailer to see if John Paul was OK. This person said it appeared that John Paul had fallen, hit his head, and choked on his own vomit. It really does sound like two different incidents.

'Curiouser and curiouser!' cried Alice...

Fell, hit his head, choked on vomit, and his arm fell off.

The GR is not exactly known for its investigative journalism on hard news stories, so I am not counting on much digging from them.

"Lies, lies, and more lies"

It seems the only people lying are the operators of the trailer park as there seems to be plenty of information about the condition of the corpse and information on the detainees....regardless of the victim's lifestyle.

I was visiting some friends yesterday who live in a trailer parked close to John Paul's RV. His RV is still there with all of the windows covered over and a sign taped over the door so it has not been moved. His beloved Vocho convertible though is missing and the neighbours think that the Police may have taken it away under the pretence of "evidence" however they have little confidence it will ever be returned again. John had indicated to me that it was quite a rare Vocho model and could be of greater value than a typical Vocho found here in Mexico.

When I last talked to John about 3 weeks ago he seemed quite depressed and was considering leaving Roca Azul to go to the coast (he mentioned Mazatlan) or possibly back to the US crossing at Nogales. He was interested in hiring me to drive his RV (towing the Vocho behind) for him as he did not think he was in good enough health to be able to do it on his own. John at the time did not appear either drunk or high on drugs - just down in his luck. He was very proud of his RV (which he purchased in the Las Vegas are) and had done a lot of improvements to it such as re-upholstery and new panelling.

As far as we know, he was from the Seattle area and no next of kin that he kept in touch with. He may have an estranged son somewhere NOB.

My read is that the three guys are being held for 30 days pending official autopsy and toxicology reports to determine cause of death. Charges or dismissals will follow that report. So far, only the trailer park owner has claimed to have seen an autopsy report.

Smartalex wrote:My read is that the three guys are being held for 30 days pending official autopsy and toxicology reports to determine cause of death. Charges or dismissals will follow that report. So far, only the trailer park owner has claimed to have seen an autopsy report.

It has not been confirmed yet who "claimed" to have found the body and was quoted as saying

"I found the body, and both arms were attached"

¿was that also the trailer park owner?

I think it was the person who lived in the trailer next to John Paul's.

Well, here is the GR report...written entirely from the point of view of neighbors and the two owners of the park. Interesting.



Tranquil Roca Azul unfazed by death
Details Published on Friday, 28 February 2014 10:20
Written by GR Staff

THE MOTORHOME WHERE JOHN PAUL ABEEL WAS KILLED.
The death of Roca Azul trailer park resident John Paul Abeel last week hasn’t flustered long-term inhabitants of the park. Abeel was a loner who lived on the edge of the transient RV community and wasn’t well known, even to his nearest neighbor, who lives just ten meters from the now sealed motorhome.

According to one neighbor, Abeel was a heavy drinker and didn’t make any friends, driving out in the early evening to local bars and returning late honking his horn.

The neighbor said that a girlfriend of Abeel, who drove down with him from Washington in the RV, called the park’s manager, Theo Orren, asking him to check on Abeel after she hadn’t heard from him in a while. Orren crawled through an open window in the RV and found Abeel’s body on the floor of the rig. He then called police.

The man charged in the death of Abeel, Miguel “Mike” Angel Alonso Mendoza, had done odd jobs for many people in the trailer park. The neighbor said one week before the police showed up he saw Alonso and two other men, who arrived in a white SUV, talking with Abeel in the early morning. The neighbor said he went over to ask Abeel to tell them to turn down the music from the vehicle. After they took off, Abeel told him that he didn’t know why they were bothering him as he already paid them 200 dollars.

“I asked him ‘why would you give them 200 dollars.’ But he didn’t respond,” said the neighbor.

The park was a beehive of official activity the day the body was found, as state investigators, the Ocotlan-based forensic crew and municipal authorities milled around, said the neighbor.

After police fingerprinted Abeel’s Volkswagen Beetle and his RV, a flatbed truck took away the VW for further investigation and said they would be back for the RV, said the neighbor.

The next day, the owners of the park, two brothers Rafael and Arturo Sanchez, held a meeting with most of the RV park residents and told the group that according to initial reports Abeel died of natural causes, saying he fell down and cut himself on a sharp edge of a counter and then bled to death, but that there was “no visible violence,” according to the neighbor.

“Whether he fell down drunk or was killed for his debts, either wouldn’t surprise me,” said the neighbor.

Roca Azul, just a few kilometers south of Jocotepec on the highway heading south around Lake Chapala, was founded as a private club in the 1960s for wealthy Guadalajara’s residents. Dozens of lots were sold over the years and homes built, many of them by expats from the United States and Canada. The Sanchez family has owned the club since the beginning and the original founder’s grandsons still run it. In the last decade or so they opened part of the club nearest the lake to motorhomes. About a dozen people live there, many year round, others during the winter months.

The park, which spans many hectares, has two large soccer pitches, basketball, volleyball and tennis courts and lots of heavy-duty children’s playground equipment on a large grassy area. The prime attractions are large swimming pools, one of them thermal. On the weekend, separate steam rooms for men and women and a restaurant serving snacks are open. Grills and tables under cover are available for groups. A few cabins are available for rent to members of the club. The majority of members are still Tapatios or local Jocotepec residents. A one-day pass is available to try out the club, but is not renewable. To find out more, go to www.roca-azul.com.

Ummm, was this an in-depth reporting of a dead body found in Roca Azul or was it an advertisement?

Not to mention that per people who have actually seen the photos of the body and scene - this was a murder the the aforementioned posts of severed arm etc was the truth.

So, if that's true, what we have from the GR is a lie and an ad for the trailer park. Unbelievable.

Oh look, here is another GR report. No perky ad or list of park amenities, but slightly different details.



U.S. citizen dies after fight over debt
Details Published on Tuesday, 25 February 2014 09:42
Written by GR Staff

THE MAIN SUSPECT IN THE MURDER, MIGUEL ANGEL ALONSO MENDOZA, IS UNDER ARREST.
A U.S. citizen living in the Roca Azul complex outside Jocotopec has died following an alleged altercation last week.

The deceased was named by the Jalisco Attorney General’s Office (Fiscalia General del Estado) as John Paul Abeel, 68, from Gig Harbor, Washington. His body was discovered on February 20 in his Washington-plated motorhome in the trailer park area of Roca Azul. According to local officials, he had been living in the trailer park for seven months.

A press release and Twitter comments issued by the Fiscalia, said three men have been taken into custody, including Miguel Angel Alonso Mendoza, 35, the odd job man/gardener at the complex who has been identified as the principal suspect in the crime. He was arrested in Jocotepec.

A Chapala Criminal court judge granted the Ministerio Publico (District Attorney’s Office) a stay of 30 days to conclude their investigations into the case.

The Fiscalia Twitter account reported that Alonso Mendoza acknowledged that he and Abeel came to blows after they had argued over an outstanding debt. He admitted being under the influence of alcohol and drugs at the time of the incident, the Tweets noted.

The trailer park manager went to look inside Abeel’s camper after he had not seen or heard from the man for several days. His body was face up and initial indications suggested he had been strangled. His arm was bent back and he had a stab wound. An autopsy report is pending.

Gustavo Aguilar Flores, 32, and Carlos de los Santos Xilozochitl, 30, have also been detained pending investigations after Alonso Mendoza told authorities that they were present during the altercation. The pair were arrested in Tepatitlan.

So, we have 2 reports on the death of Mr. Abeel. In the same "newspaper"! Both written by "GR Staff". One reports a drunk guy died of natural causes (although the article is titled: "THE MOTORHOME WHERE JOHN PAUL ABEEL WAS KILLED"), and the other is a report of a murder with the arrests of the perps.

Wonder if the GR Staff ever talk to each other! According to a friend who lives out there it was Sean Godfrey from the GR who was interviewing the residents.

Am I missing something or is this just a bunch of crapola.

Think you need to read the articles better. First article does not report that he died of natural causes, but that that RV owners first claimed that he died of natural causes.

Details are important.

lakesideguide wrote:Think you need to read the articles better. First article does not report that he died of natural causes, but that that RV owners first claimed that he died of natural causes.

Details are important.

Yes details are important,I see mention of an "arm bent back" but no mention of a severed arm.
Dr.Sam said the arm was severed by a clean circular cut,what kind of instrument and skill does that kind of amputation require,a sharp machete,meat cleaver?
The GR is a fish wrap and their reporting on this incident is proof of it.

has anyone put barriers up on the entrance and exit ?? this seems to be the way to stop this kind of thing, according to others !!

Fish wrap is right!!!

Hickton, the interesting thing is there are 2 big gates in the Roca park that had to be passed through before anyone could access this man's trailer. One is the main gate into the 'resort' area and then a secondary one into the actual part where the trailers are all parked.

Apparently they weren't locked or one of the perps had a key. Either way, this could be the crux of the damage control that is being spewed by Roca Azul.

unfortunately if a perp wants to enter anywhere., for any reason , they will.