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U.S. Consular Aide and Husband Killed in Mexico Today's Headlines Daily E-Mail
By MARC LACEY
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Published: March 14, 2010
morning.
 
TRONCONES, Mexico — Gunmen believed to be drug traffickers SIGN IN TO E-
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shot an American consulate worker and her husband to death over
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the weekend in the violence-racked border town of Ciudad Juárez, 
and killed the husband of another consular employee and wounded
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his two young children, the authorities said Sunday.

Enlarge This Image President Obama expressed outrage

at the “brutal murders” and in a
statement from the White House
vowed to “work tirelessly” with Mexican law enforcement
officials to bring the killers to justice.

It was not the first attack against American interests in

bieninformado.com
Mexico by traffickers. Unknown attackers shot at and
Jorge Alberto Salcido Ceniceros, 37, hurled a grenade that never exploded at the American
the husband of an employee of the
American Consulate in Ciudad Juarez,
consulate in Monterrey in 2008. But the killings in Ciudad MOST POPULAR
Mexico, was killed in a drive-by Juárez on Saturday afternoon of two American citizens  E-MAILED BLOGGED SEARCHED
shooting on Saturday in Ciudad Juarez.
and a Mexican national married to an American
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launched by his Mexico counterpart, Felipe Calderón, who School and Debt
had scheduled a visit to Ciudad Juárez for Tuesday to address the spiraling violence there.  4 . Obama Calls for Major Change in Education Law

Mr. Calderón also issued a statement on Sunday condemning the killings and promising to  5 . Thomas L. Friedman: Driving Drunk in

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“dedicate all available resources” to improve security in the city.
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The Ciudad Juárez shootings took place within minutes of each other about 2:30 p.m. on 
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Saturday. The victims had left a social gathering at another consulate worker’s home
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when they were attacked, officials said. 9 . Frugal San Francisco
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The first attack was reported at 2:32 p.m.
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Jorge Alberto Salcido Ceniceros, 37, the husband of a consulate worker, was found dead in
a white Honda Pilot, with bullet wounds to his body. In the back seat, were two injured
children, one aged four and one seven. They were taken to the hospital for treatment.

Numerous bullet casings of various calibers were recovered from the scene.

Another call came in exactly 10 minutes later, several miles away.

This time it was a Toyota RAV 4 with Texas plates that had been shot up, with two dead
adults inside and a baby crying from a car seat in the back, the authorities said.

A relative identified the dead couple to The Associated Press as Lesley A. Enriquez, 25, a N.C.A.A. bracket challenge
consulate employee, and her husband, Arthur H. Redelf, 30, from across the border in El Also on NYTimes.com
Paso, Texas. The Quad college sports blog
A 96-team tournament?

Ms. Enriquez, an American citizen, was shot in the head. She was wearing a green
sweater, brown pants and black sandals, according to a police report.
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Her husband, seated next to her, was shot in neck and left arm. He was wearing a blue
polo shirt, blue pants and grey sneakers, the report said.

A 9 mm bullet casing was found at the scene.

Alarmed by the brazen shootings, the State Department told employees at a string of
American consulates along the Mexican border — Tijuana, Nogales, Ciudad Juárez, 
Nuevo Laredo, Monterrey and Matamoros — that they could evacuate their families to the
United States until April 12.

Strengthening its travel warning for Mexico, the State Department said: “Criminals are
armed with a wide array of sophisticated weapons. In some cases, assailants have worn
full or partial police or military uniforms and have used vehicles that resemble police
vehicles. While most crime victims are Mexican citizens, the uncertain security situation
poses serious risks for U.S. citizens as well.”

Although President Calderón has maintained that the government has control over the 
entire country, the State Department’s warning suggests otherwise. Because of a surge in
assaults, murders and kidnappings, the American Embassy restricts diplomats from
traveling anywhere in the state of Durango, south of highways 25 and 22 and the Alamos
River in the state of Coahuila, and in the northwest part of the state of Chihuahua and
southeast of Ciudad Juárez.

American citizens are becoming more frequent victims of the violence. In late 2009 and
early 2010, four Americans visiting Durango were killed in cases that like most in Mexico
remain unsolved.

“The President is deeply saddened and outraged by the news of the brutal murders of three
people associated with the United States Consulate General in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, 
including a U.S. citizen employee, her U.S. citizen husband, and the husband of a Mexican
citizen employee,” Mike Hammer, a White House spokesman, said in a statement. “He
extends his condolences to the families and condemns these attacks on consular and
diplomatic personnel serving at our foreign missions. In concert with Mexican authorities,
we will work tirelessly to bring their killers to justice.”

Ginger Thompson and Helene Cooper contributed reporting from Washington, and
Antonio Betancourt from Mexico City.

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Past Coverage
Gunmen in Mexico Kill 16 in Attack on a Teenagers' Party (February 2, 2010)
War Without Borders: Mexico Lawmen Outmatched by Drug Violence (October 17, 2009)
Hospitals Now a Theater in Mexico's Drug War (December 5, 2008)
FILM; 400 Dead Women: Now Hollywood Is Intrigued (May 21, 2006)

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