A 23-year-old factory worker calmly and confidently admitted he killed Mexico's leading presidential candidate but refused to tell his interrogators why he carried out the assassination, witnesses said.
Mario Aburto Martinez, with two lawyers present, confessed under questioning to killing Luis Donaldo Colosio, Mexican federal officials said. They refused to discuss a possible motive and no charges were immediately filed.Colosio, the candidate of the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party, was shot in the head and the stomach at a campaign rally Wednesday in Tijuana.
Aburto seemed unruffled during his 90-minute interrogation, Jose Luis Perez Canchola, human rights ombudsman for the state of Baja California, told the San Diego Union-Tribune. Perez witnessed the questioning.
"He was tranquil in his manner, very sure of himself, confident. He answered questions with much assurance," Perez was quoted as saying "He never showed any fear or desperation. His voice was normal, without nervousness."
He said Aburto shed no light on the assassination.
"He refused to say anything about his motives, about how he organized the crime, how he obtained the weapon, whether he had any accomplices," Perez said.
Aburto, who was apprehended at the scene, reportedly told police, "I saved Mexico!"
Mexico's attorney general, Diego Valades, refused to confirm that. "One distinguished Mexican was deprived of his life, but Mexicans will not be deprived of justice," Valades said in announcing Aburto's confession.
The gun used to assassinate Colosio was bought by a Californian in 1977 from a San Francisco gun shop that has since gone out of business, federal agents said Thursday.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms was brought into the assassination investigation when Mexican authorities asked for its help in tracing the weapon.
U.S. law enforcement officials said they are fairly sure that the original buyer of the .38-caliber Brazilian-made Taurus revolver has no connection with Martinez.
"Nevertheless," said ATF agent John D'Angelo, "we're trying to reconstruct the chain of ownership of this firearm. The best-case scenario is that the person who originally bought it gave it to the suspect, but that is probably unlikely, given the number of years that have passed."
Colosio's slaying, Mexico's constitution and the calendar have conspired to strip the ruling party, known as the PRI, of its strongest presidential candidates.
The constitution bans a candidate from holding a senior government job six months before the election. With the election five months away, that rule means members of the Cabinet - the source of every president the PRI has produced in its 65 years of power - are ineligible.
Some PRI officials were considering asking for a two-month delay in the elections to get around the constitutional problem. While such a move would make Cabinet members eligible to run, it also could provoke opposition from other parties.
If the election is not moved, a likely candidate would be Congressman Fernando Ortiz Arana, 49, the party chairman and a fiery speaker.
A second choice would be Ernesto Zedillo, a professorial economist with a Yale degree who had been managing Colosio's campaign.
Both have less political stature than Colosio, and would have to count heavily on the political capital Colosio gained for the party with his death.
"We are still in mourning," said Oscar Espinosa, finance manager for Colosio's campaign, indicating that the party may take a few days to consider its choice.
Opposition candidates said they would also suspend their campaigns for a few days.