Suspect arrested in slaying of former Somerton finance director in Mexico
A suspect is in custody in connection with the slaying in Mexico of a former finance director for the city of Somerton, according to the attorney general of Mexico’s Guerrero state.
Doug Bradley, who left Somerton in 2013 to become administrative services director of the city of Imperial, Calif., was fatally shot Dec. 28 while vacationing in Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo, a resort area on Mexico’s Pacfic Coast.
In a news conference over the weekend, Guerrero’s attorney general, Javier Olea Pelaez, said Isidro N., was arrested as the suspect in the shooting of Bradley, whose body was found in a parking lot in the city’s hotel district. Mexico’s penal code does not permit the release of suspects’ last names pending conviction and sentencing.
The attorney general’s office said in a statement the shooting stemmed from an altercation between Bradley and a woman he “contracted” in a bar, the 40-20 Show Bar.
Bradley “contracted the services of a girl by the name of Africa or Keyli, both left the bar to go to a neighboring hotel, where they had an altercation, (and) the American subsequently returned to the 40-20 Bar, where he demanded the return of money by virtue of apparently having been robbed by the woman,” the attorney general’s office said in the
statement.
Leaving the establishment, Bradley was gunned down, the release said.
The attorney general’s office previously said it was investigating drug use as a possible motive in the slaying, prompting rebukes from city officials in Imperial Beach, notably Mayor Serge Dedina and Bradley’s family members.
“That’s all a lie,” Dedina said.
The mayor dismissed prosecutors’ version of events in the homicide as an attempt to divert attention from Guerrero’s status as one of Mexico’s deadliest states, owing to drug cartel violence. Guerrero had the nation’s highest homicide rate in 2017, according to Mexican government statistics.
“I wouldn’t trust any investigation (in Guerrero). From my perspective and the city of Imperial’s perspective, Doug Bradley was a fantastic administrative services director,” Dedina said in an interview.
Guerrero’s murder rate notwithstanding, the beaches at Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo are popular with surfers from both the United States and Mexico. His love for surfing had brought Bradley to the Mexican resort city on several occasions, his acquaintances said.
“Doug Bradley was loved by all that knew him,” Dedina said in a statement posted on the city’s website. “He was always positive, loved to surf, and had helped to turn around the City of Imperial Beach’s financial management as well as restructure city administration to make it more efficient and resident friendly. He will be missed by everyone who knew him and worked with him.”
Bradley, a native of California, had joined the city of Imperial Beach after having served as Somerton’s finance director from March 2011 to November 2013.
“Doug was a really good friend of mine,” said Somerton Mayor Jose Yepez, who was serving as a city councilman during the time Bradley was finance director. “He was a surfer and he was very comfortable living in Mexico when he worked for us.”
Bradley lived in San Luis Rio Colorado and commuted on a motorcycle each day to his job at Somerton City Hall, Yepez recalled. Having moved to Imperial Beach, Bradley likewise traveled from his home in Playas de Tijuana, Baja Calif., he added.
While serving as Somerton finance director, Bradley received praise from the Goldwater Institute, a Phoenix-based public policy advocacy organization, for his efforts to make information about city finances more transparent and more accessible to the public.
“I think he was a great gentleman and he was a great asset to the city of Somerton,” Yepez said.
The statement from the Guerrero attorney general’s office said a witness identified Isidro N., whose alias is “El Chiro,” as the gunman in Bradley’s murder. At the time of his arrest, he was found in possession of a .45-caliber
handgun believed used in the shooting.
Prior to his arrest, media reports in Mexico quoted witnesses saying they saw Bradley fleeing from a man carrying a 9mm handgun.