Indigenous Peoples and Human Rights

September 27, 2008

Arrest made in murder of 'Sally' Grace Eiler

Police in Mexico arrest alleged killer of US woman
The Associated Press
Sunday, September 28, 2008
MEXICO CITY: Authorities in southern Oaxaca state said Saturday they have arrested a man who allegedly raped and killed a U.S. woman.
Omar Yoguez Singu, 32, told police he had consensual sex with Marcella Grace Eiler, 20, of Eugene, Oregon, and then killed her with a machete after an argument on Sept. 15, Oaxaca State Attorney General Evencio Ramirez said.
Eiler's badly decomposed body was found Wednesday in a shack 80 miles (130 kilometers) south of Oaxaca City, near the town of San Jose del Pacifico.
Ramirez said Singu was turned over to police on Wednesday in Mexico City by friends who first beat him up after he confessed to the crime.
Eiler's father, John Eiler, of St. Louis, Missouri, said his daughter was a dance teacher and social activist in Oaxaca City, where she had lived on and off for the past three years.
"She was really trying to spend her energy as an observer for an indigenous rights organization," John Eiler said in a telephone interview.
Eiler had traveled to San Jose del Pacifico to dance at a fundraiser, said Miguel Cruz of Oaxaca's Popular Indigenous Council, an organization with which he said Eiler had worked since 2007.
She also had lived for about a month with the family of a witness in the killing of Bradley Roland Will, a volunteer for Indymedia.org, Cruz said. Will was fatally shot in October 2006 in Oaxaca City while filming protests by activists demanding the ouster of the state's governor.
Will's family said last year that they believed state officials were probably involved in his killing. State investigators arrested two town officials in 2006 but later released them after then-state Attorney General Lizbeth Cana suggested Will may have been shot by a protester.
Cruz said Eiler had complained that police in civilian clothes often sat in a parked car outside the witness's family's house and that they followed her.
Calls to Oaxaca's state police department were not answered Saturday.
"We're asking authorities to conduct an efficient and transparent investigation and that they not taint her image because she dedicated herself to defending the rights of women and of indigenous people," Cruz said in a telephone interview.
John Eiler said his daughter's remains would be cremated and returned to the United States.
Read previous articles about Sally's murder at: www.narconews.com/

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I hope they rape and kill you in prison Omar. Sloooooooowly.....

Anonymous said...

Sally was a beautiful, caring, free-spirit who was there to help. This is a horrific thing to happen to her. I wish there were a nice picture of her in the headlines vs her killer. Her family will see the link and have to look at him vs Sally, when the article is about HER death.

Anonymous said...

u need to die homie thats bull shit dont forget an eye for an eye i personally didnt know this gurl but my fam did so yeah that makes u my enemie its over for u dude u goin to jail for a while i hope cause if not then i will be!!!!

Anonymous said...

Sally was my first cousin and this is just so shocking!..words cant explain what this is doing to our family! WHY? is all we can ask! Sally will forever be missed and in our hearts! Now she is in a place without pain an she can rest with our Grandma! WE LOVE YOU SALLY! [[R.i.P]]
-Kristi-

Care Bear said...

We'll all miss you sally-(A)

Alex said...

I went to elementary and high school with Sally.
I remember her in about 3rd or 2nd grade, when my mom was the coach of our little soccer team, she was already so tall, so much taller than the rest of us, and her height had grown quicker than her coordination. She kept with it with amazing dedication.
Somebody so giving should not have been taken off this earth so early. I guess somebody up there needed her amazing spirit and generosity sooner than the rest of us wish it could have been, even though we all miss her down here.
Not a day goes by I do not think of Sally and hope for the best for her family.
Alex