The Regina Martínez Files

Investigation

After obtaining the full case file of the investigation into the murder of Mexican journalist Regina Martínez, OCCRP is releasing the documents in full.

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April 28th, 2021
Gangs Justice System Murder Real Estate
Mexico

Regina Martínez was a prominent journalist in Mexico, reporting on drug gangs and political corruption, when she was beaten and strangled to death in her home in 2012. The official investigation into her murder was deeply flawed and left many questions unanswered –– perhaps by design.

As part of an effort to reveal the truth behind Martínez’s murder, OCCRP filed Freedom of Information requests for the investigation files, and is making them public here for the first time.

The requests were made in 2020, when a group of media organizations carried out their own investigation as part of a collaborative project coordinated by Forbidden Stories. Journalists conducted interviews and combed through court documents, and published their findings in an award-winning report.

The information they found cast doubt on the theory put forward by prosecutors in Veracruz state, who had succeeded in convincing the court that Martínez was murdered by a drug-addicted male prostitute they claimed was her lover.

Martínez's friends and colleagues insist she did not know the man. And the only person ever convicted for the murder, another addict with a troubled background, has recanted his confession, claiming he was tortured into telling police he killed Martínez.

The documents available to download below highlight many inconsistencies in that case. The files are presented in chronological order, and are divided into sections corresponding with the different stages of the case as it developed.

Mexico is one of the world’s most dangerous countries for journalists, with at least 120 murdered in the last 20 years, including Martínez. Rights groups have been demanding that prosecutors reopen the case and release their files on her murder, but they refused to do so until last year, when they had to do so in response to journalists’ Freedom of Information requests. In November 2020, in response to questions from OCCRP and Forbidden Stories, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said the case should be reopened.

First Steps

Investigators began by interviewing Martínez’s neighbors, as well as her brothers, about any notable events before the murder. One brother mentioned a recent break-in at the property, and investigators from the Veracruz Prosecutor’s Office said it had not been reported. Also included are documents describing how officers first discovered Martínez’s body, including a transcript of a call from a police officer at the scene.

The files contain a discussion about which agencies should control the investigation. The conversation included the Public Ministry, a federal agency that is overseen by the Attorney General’s office, which was also involved. The former Special Prosecutor for Crimes Against Freedom of Expression, which often investigates attacks on journalists, later said she felt she was being blocked by local authorities in her efforts to look into Martínez’s killing.

These files are heavily redacted to comply with Mexico’s Law for the Protection of Personal Data, which authorities often interpret as forbidding them from including photos and information that could identify any person at all. Even Martínez’s name was censored throughout, although the entire case file is about her murder.

Download pages 1-120

Highlighted documents

Police at the scene called prosecutors to report “a lifeless female person found."
"I recognize, without fear of being mistaken, the lifeless body of Regina"

Forensic Analysis

Investigators determined that Martínez had died from being strangled with a cleaning rag, and found blood in the bathroom where she had been beaten.

The files indicate that investigators found only “fragments” of fingerprints, but details about them are censored. More information was revealed in a separate investigation by Laura Borbolla, former special prosecutor for crimes committed against freedom of expression. Borbolla revealed that local investigators had ruined fingerprints. She also said she managed to recover two prints from the crime scene, but was unable to find a person who matched them — including the main suspect identified by Veracruz investigators, whose fingerprints were never found at the scene.

Download pages 121-234

Highlighted documents

Expert opinion on the recovery of possible fingerprints.
"Typical clutter characteristic of searches commonly found in home burglary." - A report by experts sent to examine the crime scene said it looked like a burglary had taken place.

Disturbing Requests

The files include letters sent by the state Attorney General’s Office to summon people to testify. The letters informed the interviewees that they would also be fingerprinted and have DNA samples taken from their fingernails and mouths. Some of Martínez’s colleagues later told reporters that they were disturbed to have been treated like suspects, and had even been subjected to dental exams to determine whether their teeth matched a bite mark on Martínez’s body.

Download pages 235-351

Highlighted documents

A list of evidence.
"They told me that Regina Martínez was dead and I stayed with my mother, hugging her." - A testimony from a neighbor.

Corrupt Officials

Journalistic articles about the killing of Martínez are included in the documents, along with investigative reports about corrupt public officials. Some of the articles were written by Martínez herself. Also included was “The Tragic Decade," an article published days after Martínez's murder that mentions two Veracruz officials as possibly having links to organized crime.

Also included in the files are requests from investigators to visit the homes of people who testified, as well as notes on Martínez’s friendships with fellow journalists.

Download pages 352-406

Highlighted documents

"The Tragic Decade," a story on Veracruz and the drug war published in Proceso magazine, Martinez’s employer, a few days after her murder.
A document from local prosecutors discussing a federal-level request to access Martínez’s laptop.

Leads Not Taken

The Veracruz Attorney General's Office states that “it is the duty of this Specialized Prosecutor's Office to investigate the journalistic work of the deceased.” Martínez’s employer, the Mexico City-based Proceso magazine, also pushed for investigators to look for a motive related to her work.

Yet authorities failed to pursue that obvious lead, opting instead to make the case that her killing was a crime of robbery and romantic passion.

The files include a detailed description of Martínez’s home, including each room and its contents. Investigators note the presence of beer bottles.

Download pages 407-511

Highlighted documents

"A wooden bookcase with five shelves that houses a large number of compact discs, video cassettes, personal articles and books." - A description by investigators of the interior of Martínez’s house.
"A clear glass beer bottle is found." - Prosecutors later argued that Martínez had been drinking with two vagrants, one of whom was her boyfriend, before she was killed.

Flawed Investigation

Borbolla told OCCRP that the Veracruz Attorney General’s Office conducted a flawed investigation. “Really, the local authorities were unaware of good practices and correct investigation protocols,” she said.

This section of the files includes official letters between local and federal authorities about the investigation.

Download pages 512-633

Highlighted documents

Martínez was “characterized by journalism supporting a cause."
"The requested video does not exist." - A federal prosecutor requested to be shown a video of the autopsy performed on Martínez. State-level prosecutors told him the video did not exist.

Looking Away

Ignoring the obvious line of investigation, investigators did not look at Martínez’s journalistic work as a possible motive for her killing. Instead, these files show, they asked for a psychological profile of her, which was prepared by a psychologist from the Veracruz Attorney General’s Office.

This section also includes reference to a request from the National Human Rights Commission regarding progress on the case.

Download pages 634-705

Highlighted documents

"I will thank you very much for your cooperation in informing this National Commission about the progress of the investigation." - A letter from Mexico’s human rights commission asking local prosecutors to share information on the murder investigation.
"Conduct a criminalistic profile or psychological autopsy of the deceased."

Questioning the Family

Investigators questioned Martínez’s friends and family members about her private life, including romantic relationships. All responded that Martínez had been very reserved. The only relationship she was known to have had was with a photographer, years earlier.

The files show that investigators asked whether Martínez owned the house she lived in, and that they offered family members psychological support.

Download pages 706-820

Highlighted documents

A letter from prosecutors to the public registry seeking information about who owned Martínez's home, when it was bought, and if it had any liens against it.
A document ordering Martínez's family to be offered psychological assistance.

Handwritten Lists

Some documents were handwritten, including a list of items found inside Martínez’s house. The files also include people interviewed about Martínez’s work, including journalists, friends, and family. No interviews with politicians or public officials are recorded.

The files also note the measures investigators took to look into Martínez’s financial history.

Download pages 821-880

Highlighted documents

"Every time she published something, she was afraid." - A colleague of Martínez told police in an interview that the murdered journalist was aware her work was dangerous.
Investigators sought records of Martínez's bank accounts and credit and debit card use.
Handwritten notes by investigators who had just searched the home of a person whose name is redacted.

A Quiet Life

Authorities tried to determine who Martínez had been in contact with. They searched phone records, and questioned friends, acquaintances, and fellow journalists. The files show that investigators made little progress, with interviewees telling them that Martínez kept to herself.

The document also notes that investigators were unable to obtain full fingerprints from the crime scene.

Download pages 881-999
Download pages 1000-1120

Highlighted documents

Fingerprint fragment “does not have the characteristic points required to enter the AFIS [automated fingerprint identification] system."
Call and message history, incoming and outgoing.
"I performed electrical installation work in her home as well as on her laptop computer."

Finding Focus

The files show that investigators zeroed in on Jorge Antonio Hernández Silva, known as El Silva, who confessed to the crime but later retracted the confession, saying he had been tortured. Investigators questioned El Silva and his male acquaintances, and some spoke about their lives in the social scene around Parque Juarez, in the Veracruz capital of Xalapa, where they used hard drugs and engaged in prostitution. Investigators went to pawn shops to search for objects that were missing from Martinez’s house, including a laptop and cell phones.

Download pages 1121-1300
Download pages 1301-1416
Download pages 1417-1547
Download pages 1548-1680

Highlighted documents

Investigators asked a colleague of Martínez if she "went to any special place for breakfast, lunch, or dinner, or even to have fun at night."
In this document, prosecutors in Veracruz "legalized" the arrest of El Silva, saying that he confessed to the murder and should remain jailed.
"He pulls her back and starts asking her where the money was." - Notes from a reenactment of the murder police held with suspect "El Silva."

A Case Full of Irregularities

This section outlines the sentencing. Judge Beatriz Rivera Hernández accepted the prosecution’s argument that El Silva had come to Martínez’s home the night she was killed, along with a man called José Adrián Hernández Domínguez, who was known as “El Jarocho,” a slang term for someone from Veracruz. The prosecutor concluded that El Silva had intended to rob the journalist.

The case began to fall apart almost immediately. The investigation itself showed that many valuables remained in her home, making robbery an unlikely motive. El Jarocho was never found, and El Silva later said police had tortured him into confessing.

Judge Edel Álvarez Peña ordered El Silva released due to irregularities in the case against him. But one of Martínez’s brothers filed an injunction against the decision, and El Silva remains in prison.

The files also note that issues of Martínez’s magazine, Proceso, disappeared from newsstands on at least three occasions when it ran stories about organized crime, politics, and homicides.

Download pages 1681-1810
Download pages 1811-1940
Download pages 1941-2070
Download pages 2071-2148

Highlighted documents

"When topics related to organized crime, politics, and homicides were published, the magazine was curiously taken away almost immediately."
"There was the lady and El Jarocho dancing, while I was getting drunk." - A quote from an interrogation of El Silva.
"They gave me water up my nose, they gave me electric shocks, they blindfolded me." - El Silva describes torture at the hands of police.