Three Men Receive 520-Year Sentences for Mexico City Mass Killings

Three men convicted of kidnapping and killing 13 people in Mexico City two years ago have each received 520-year prison sentences from a judge in the capital.

Ernesto Espinosa, José de Jesús Carmona and Victor Manuel Torres have also been fined around $300,000 for their part in the murders, according to the Irish Independent.

Twelve of the victims, all between the ages of 16 and 34, were reported kidnapped from Heaven, a bar in the Zona Rosa neighborhood of Mexico City on May 26, 2013. Video surveillance shows them being calmly led out of the club without any apparent use of force.

But a total of 13 bodies were then discovered outside Mexico City three months later under a pile of lime, asbestos and cement, according to the BBC. One gang leader later admitted to decapitating at least one of the youths shortly after they were kidnapped, the L.A. Times reports.

All 13 victims were from Tepito, a suburb of Mexico City known for its black markets and rough living conditions. The murders were allegedly carried out as retaliation against the killing of a drug trafficker a few days earlier, the BBC says.

Prosecutors say the investigation into the murders is ongoing as they continue to interrogate other suspects in the case.

[BBC]