Canadian photographer’s driver arrested for her murder

An ADO taxi driver hired by 74-year-old Canadian photographer Barbara McClatchie Andrews to transport her from Cancun to Merida has been arrested in connection with her strangulation death Sept. 30.

The alleged murder occurred on September 30, when Andrews was transported from Cancun to Merida aboard a passenger vehicle hired in Cancun.

According to Yucatan Attorney General Office investigators, the suspect is a Veracruz native, Juan Carlos López Martínez, who was living in Kinchil with his wife and two children. The ADO driver was also said to be an ex-soldier.

After the alleged criminal acts occured, the body of the victim was found on the side of the Merida-Cancun highway, a few kilometers before reaching Merida. Investigators said the victim had been beaten and strangled with the cord of her camera.

Investigators are focusing on robbery as a motive for the murder. Andrews was said to have been carrying a bundle of dollar bills at the time of the murder. She was returning from an extended trip to the U.S. and Canada when she arrived in Cancun and hired the driver to bring her to Merida.

As posted on The Yucatan Times on October 1st, the 74-year-old Canadian was a photographer who “saw beauty in everything.”

Andrews was a former photojournalist who had turned to abstract photography in recent years. She had completed assignments for National Geographic and other publications.

Andrews was a resident of Merida, the capital of Yucatan, where she ran an art gallery called “In Lak’Ech”.

Source: sipse.com