Third Mexican musician killed

A trumpet player has been found dead with his hands and feet bound and a nylon bag over his head in southern Mexico, in what authorities said was apparently the country's third murder of a musician in less than a week.

José Luis Aquino, 33, had been hit repeatedly on the head, said a spokesman for the Oaxaca state attorney general's office who could not be named according to departmental rules. He said authorities were still investigating possible motives, but suspected a crime of passion.

Aquino played for Los Conde, a band founded in Tututepec, Oaxaca, who later moved to the resort town of Puerto Escondido, according to their website. The band, mainly comprising brothers and cousins, has recorded half-a-dozen albums.

Los Conde singer and guitar player Francisco Conde said Aquino had played in the band for 14 years, was married and had two children.

"He was a good person and never fought with anyone," Conde said. "He didn't smoke or do drugs."

A wave of violence associated with organised crime has terrorised many parts of Mexico and the latest victims appear to be popular musicians. Most disquieting were the weekend slayings of two singers known for their songs about love and loss. Until now violence in Mexico's music scene has tended to centre around the narcocorridos who sing about drugs and guns.

The murders of Sergio Gomez, leader of the top-selling K-Paz de la Sierra, and Zayda Peña, of Zayda and the Guilty Ones, have left mainstream singers worrying they may become targets by becoming identified with one or another of Mexico's warring drug gangs.

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