RSSCanadian Tourist Bouabal Bounthavorn Shot to Death in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico
A 29 year old Canadian tourist, Bouabal Bounthavorn, was shot an killed in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. According to police reports, Bounthavorn was shot three times in the head by a lone gunman in the Hotel Riu in Cabo San Lucas. 24 year old Masha Heikali, Bounthavorn’s girlfriend, was shot in the foot. Mexican police say that no one has been arrested so far and investigators have no leads.
Hotel Riu Palace Cabo San Lucas
Canadian tourist gunned down in Mexico: report
The Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade confirmed that a Canadian had died.
“We’re aware of the death of a Canadian citizen in Cabo San Lucas,” department spokeswoman Marie-Christine Lilkoff told Canwest News Service.
“Consular assistance is being provided to the family and consular staff are in touch with local authorities, who are conducting an investigation into the circumstances of the death.”
This is certainly not the first case of a Canadian being killed in Mexico as there have been a number of high profile cases in recent years.
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Domenic and Nancy Ianiero of Woodbridge, Ont. were found murdered at a resort near Playa del Carmen, Mexico in February 2006. No arrests were ever made, but at one point, Mexican authorities considered two women from Thunder Bay, Ont. to be suspects.
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Another Woodbridge resident, 19-year-old Adam DePrisco, died outside an Acapulco nightclub in January 2007. A Mexican doctor said the teen died after being struck by a hit-and-run driver, but DePrisco’s family maintained he was beaten to death.
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Jeff Toews of Grande Prairie, Alta. died in May 2007 in Cancun after partying in a nightclub. Mexican authorities say he fell from the second floor of his hotel. Toews’ family claimed at the time that his injuries came from a severe beating.
UPDATE I: This is bizarre, Mexican Police claim they have no leads or motive for the killing, yet they have set up roadblocks and are monitoring the airport for the killer, described as a tall, thin, dark-skinned man.
UPDATE II: 32 Year Old American Claims to be a Witness to Shooting
State police commander Enrique Wuilar in Cabo San Lucas says a 32-year-old American man who claims to have witnessed the shooting, as well as an argument between Bounthavorn and the shooter, is being held in custody.
UPDATE III: American Shooting Witness being Held by Mexican Police
An American man, 32 year old Mike Thompson from Illinois is a key witness in the shooting death of Bouabal Bounthavorn in Cabo San Lucas. However, Mexican police are holding Thompson in custody even though the Illinois man claims that he was trying to help the victims.
An American man who witnessed the shooting death of a Canadian in Cabo San Lucas is being held by Mexican authorities despite the fact his father says he tried to help the victims during the crime last Thursday.
Meanwhile, Mike Thompson, 32, a project manager for a manufacturing company in Illinois, has become a key witness in the case, but is not being allowed to leave Mexico.
His father Roger Thompson, 57, said his son is innocent and doesn’t know why he is still being detained by Mexican police almost a week after the shooting.
“I just want my son home,” Roger Thompson said in an interview with Canwest News Service Tuesday. “I know my son — he’s done nothing wrong.”
The younger Thompson was set to leave Cabo San Lucas last Friday after a week-long vacation.
But what began as an attempt to offer help, has resulted in him being held by police.
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25 Responses to “Canadian Tourist Bouabal Bounthavorn Shot to Death in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico”
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will be interesting to see how the facts play out in this case
none the less how tragic
prayers for this family’s loss
There seem to be an awful lot of suspect investigations in Mexico.
Lot of drug trafficking there too … as in the Caribbean … but of course, ‘It can’t happen to me. So why should I care?’
well, well, well… Anita and her disgusting
wretched paintings are up for people to see.
isnt that special ! NOT
i heard that Anita is a TEST PILOT for a broom
factory !
man oh man- i hate all of them
Our good friends to the North seem to be having a helluva time dealing with crimes that happen to Canadians in Mexico.
2 Places NOT to VACATION anytime soon:
* Aruba
* Mexico
#4 Paulus— Are you serious? Does Anita VDS really have her own paintings for sale? LMAO
Did some one get the article wrong ??? Is it really Mexico or is it a typo and the shooting really happened in aruba
buster
I thought it sounded more like aruba huh…
geez.. oh well its still tragic that this is happening to others …seems like traveling away from the united states is becing a hazard!!!
ANITA’S PAINTING HMM INTERESTING …. IS SHE FEELING BORED. RESTLESS.. OR JUST NEEDS MONEY… OR WANTS TO GET HER REPUTATION BACK
NOT GONNA HAPPEN!!!!
I’d consider buying a painting from Anita depicting the Unrin8tor and Paulus the Sweathog doing hard time behind bars, but only if it was based in reality (i.e. the 2 pukes actually in the slammer).
Thoughts and prayers go out to the victim’s family. We just returned from Cabo, and the gap between the ultra rich and the ultra poor is mucho wider than here in the States. One developer’s house, which was under construction near where we stayed, was said to be 28,000 square feet. But within a few minute drive there were poor living in shacks with dirt floors and dirt roads, and little hope for a better future.
Glad to be back in the good ol’ US of A!!
Another country to cross off my shrinking travel list…
I am a canadian living in Mexico. Not to mention the worst part of Mexico – Tijuana. I’m not scared, there is nothing to worry about. Mexicans are the nicest people I’ve met, nicer than Canadians back home. The reason these Canadians are getting murdered is because they are messing with the wrong people. Mexicans don’t kill tourists because they’re bored. They kill you for starting trouble with them.
did this guy have a job in burnaby?
was he a gangster/dealer who just got what was coming regardless of where he was?
I am another Canadian living in Mexico. It amazes me that with five murders of Canadians in two or three years that suddenly Mexico is uber dangerous. Sigh. How many people were killed in Toronto or New York or Montreal last month? Probably a whole lot more than five.
That said, the local paper in Cabo states that an arrest has been made in the case. Two men are in custody, though no motive or reason has been stated. I just read a comment on a forum that the incident was the result of an all day argument between the victim and another guest at the hotel. I have zero evidence that it is true, just sharing gossip from the boards.
Here’s my take on the whole thing….
http://www.cancuncanuck.com/2008/05/canadian-shot-in-cabo.html
Tragic yes? Random act of violence? Highly unlikely.
My cousin is the American that was held in custody and no is not being allowed to leave Mexico because he witnessed this attack. I would love to know more “local” talk on the subject.
I have read reports where the girlfriend has been allowed to return home. Is this true?
What is being said about the American that is being detained?
I am getting married at that exact resort in september … Looks like I will be cancelling that. I am not looking forward to getting shot by some crazy mexican. Sorry 5 murders is a little suspecious. The guy from Grand Prairie was there with his wife and child hardly looking for trouble or to attempt balcony diving at 3:00 AM. Congrats to the fellow cancucks living in Tijiauna stay away from the resorts apparently there like new york and toronto.
I have lived in Cabo for 7 years the people who get into trouble are always up to no good.. I go out a couple nights a week and have never had a problem it is very safe here.. If you want trouble you can find it in any city in the world, millions of tourists go to mexico every year and have a great time.. The people that fall off balconies and get fights are the trouble makers that get too drunk and out of control.. You have a better chance of getting killed by lightning than having one of these major problems down here.. Other than an upset stomach once in a while everything is great and the people are very friendly.. ja ja.. I guess those people should never go out of their houses again… Thanks, cabo J
The simple fact remains, crazy gun toting lunatics have free access to these resorts. An armed man was walking around the Riu that night. Imagane he bumps into you on his way to take care of what ever business he had. Say the wrong word and you could be the one everyone assumes was involved in a drug deal or something.
I have been to the Riu in Cabo and there are a lot of rooms with a confusing layout. It would not be hard to end up at the wrong room.
Just something to think about.
P.S.
70 or 80 murders per year in Toronto. about 80 or 90% occur at Jane and Finch or Regent Park. These are not the places tourists go in Toronto. Resorts in Mexico are!!
[...] Bounthavorn Ingo, thought to be from the Vancouver area, was killed this past May when a gunman burst into his hotel room and opened fire, killing him and wounding his girlfriend, Masha Heikali, in the foot. (Vancouver [...]
My husband died at the same resort in October 2006. Very dangerous, very shady, he was thrown over a balcony and then it was quickly covered up.
The Riu Santa Fe was not even open in October 2006.
Rachel…not talking about the Riu Santa Fe, it was the Riu Cabo San Lucas as per the picture up top
And yes it was open October 2006, that is where my husband died and the Concierge of the hotel was nice enough to cover up what happened once paid $2000 by my husband’s shady company.
is there any mureders in cabo
These are 8 innocent tourists of the 16 total Canadians who were murdered in Mexico from December 2007 to Jan 2012. Bouabal Bounthavorn is one of these 8.
Google: “The UN Gang, and the Canada-Mexico Connection” for the source.
1 – Salih Abdulaziz Sahbaz, a UN gang member executed January 15th 2012.
2 – Gordon Douglas Kendall, a Hells Angels member executed in December 2009.
3 – Jeffrey Ronald Ivans, a Hells Angels member executed in December 2009.
4 – Bouabal Bounthavorn, a UN gang member executed May 2008.
5 – Ahmet (Lou) Kaawach, a UN gang member executed in July 2008.
6 – Elliott Abben (Taco) Castaneda, a UN gang member executed in July 2008.
7 – Brendhan Stowe, an Asian gang member from B.C. shot Dec 2008
8 – Nguyen Minh Trung Do, an Asian gang member from B.C. shot Dec 2008