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As family and friends gathered to mourn two men slain Tuesday by a gang with reported drug cartel ties, anti-crime activists called for a stronger response to the region's escalating violence and Mexican officials promised justice.
Several thousand people attended services for Benjamin LeBaron, 32, and Luis Widmar, 29, in Colonia LeBaron, a community founded by a relative who moved from Utah to Mexico in the 1920s to escape a crackdown on plural marriage. The crowd filled the town's tiny church and spilled into the surrounding yard and street, a cousin told The Salt Lake Tribune , as police and army officers stood guard.
Chihuahua Gov. José Reyes Baeza Terrazas attended the private family viewing before the funeral, Brent LeBaron Jr. said.
"He was very passionate and saying he was there for us, that he was going to push for everything to continue helping us, and that this might be the [catalyst] for getting better resources to attack the problem quickly," said Brent LeBaron, Benjamin's cousin.
Mexican media quoted Baeza on Thursday saying the United States FBI would assist in the murder investigation because of the men's dual citizenship. And Mexico's attorney general's office said it would take over the investigation, calling it a high-impact crime.
Both men were married and each had five children, all younger than 8.
"The families of the men are doing as well as can be expected," Brent LeBaron said. "They are heartbroken. The shock hasn't set in yet. But they are being shown a lot of love."
LeBaron was the first anti-crime activist to be murdered in retaliation for advocating a stronger government response to rampant kidnappings, extortion demands and drug crimes in the northwest region of Chihuahua.
The slayings are drawing a wide response.
Television and radio commentators demanded justice, and on Wednesday, Mexico's lower House of Congress observed a moment of
Mexico United Against Crime, representing several anti-crime organizations, released a statement critical of the state government's response and saying, "We cannot allow organized crime to intimidate, threaten and kill those brave enough to denounce them," according to El Universal newspaper in Mexico.
LeBaron and Widmar were killed Tuesday after a group of armed men clad in military-style camouflage gear -- which a state legislator described as the "uniform" of drug gangs -- broke into LeBaron's home in Galeana, adjacent to Colonia LeBaron.
In an interview with El Universal TV, Miriam LeBaron said her husband told her to get on the floor with their baby as the intruders
Miriam LeBaron said she woke her oldest son and when he refused to take cover, they prayed together.
The intruders beat both LeBaron and Widmar and then forced them into a vehicle.
The men were shot in the head and dumped on a highway about 4 miles away.
A note left with the men's bodies said the killings were in retribution for the June arrests of 25 men from the nearby town of Nicolás Bravo who are allegedly connected with the Sinaloa drug cartel. The note was signed "El General," an apparent reference to Sinaloa cartel lieutenant José
Friends and family issued a statement after the killings that said no one in the community had anything to do with those arrests.
Coincidentally, U.S. officials reported Thursday during a congressional committee hearing that efforts to assist Mexico in disrupting drug cartels are showing signs of progress -- even though June was Mexico's deadliest month in terms of drug-related violence.
More than 800 people were killed last month in violence linked to drug cartels, said Rep. Edolphus Towns, D-New York and chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. Since 2007, an estimated 11,000 deaths are attributed to drug-trade violence.
LeBaron emerged as the spokesman for a communitywide
The incident galvanized LeBaron and others in the towns of Galeana and Colonia LeBaron. They formed a committee to report any suspicious activities in town to police, quickly becoming an example for other Chihuahua communities plagued by drug-related kidnappings and extortion.
In a recent interview with El Universal , LeBaron called the response to their efforts from supporters and state legislators "unforgettable."
Just last week, LeBaron led a convoy of residents to a graduation ceremony for new anti-drug cadets and, along with Baeza, addressed the new recruits.
Community members said after the killings it was a mistake to allow LeBaron to take on such a prominent role in the anti-crime effort. One resident said the community will now rely on written statements in the name of SOS Chihuahua, a coalition formed several weeks ago.
The story is based on reporting by Brooke Adams, María Villaseñor, The Associated Press, Bloomberg News and El Universal in Mexico.
Colonia LeBaron is one of several Mexican colonies, some established more than 100 years ago, founded by Mormon polygamists to escape prosecution for plural marriages.
The community in northern Mexico was founded in 1944 by Alma Dayer LeBaron, the great-grandfather of murder victim Benjamin LeBaron, who moved to Mexico in the 1920s.
Polygamy is not widespread in today's Colonia LeBaron, residents say. Many are dual citizens of the United States and Mexico.
Deceased Utah polygamist Ervil LeBaron, a convicted murderer, is the great-uncle of Benjamin LeBaron. But the Colonia LeBaron community in Mexico is not affiliated with Ervil LeBaron's violent sect.
Ervil LeBaron once lived in Colonia LeBaron, but in the 1970s had a falling out with a brother -- Benjamin's grandfather -- over leadership of a church based there, the Church of the Firstborn of the Fullness of Times.
Ervil LeBaron moved to Utah, where he led the Church of the Lamb of God. He ordered followers, among them a plural wife, to carry out numerous killings -- including the 1977 murder of 71-year-old Rulon C. Allred, leader of the Salt Lake City-based Apostolic United Brethren, another polygamous sect. LeBaron considered Allred a rival. Ervil LeBaron died in Utah State Prison on Aug. 16, 1981.
Brooke Adams
