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MEDIA/WHAT HAPPENED






July 18, 2003
(Translation of Article posted in 'POR ESTO'; The Newspaper of Cancun, Mexico)

"I overdid it"

The one responsible for the brutal murder of the North American Tammy Jenkins was arrested/The criminal, Ricardo Dominguez Arias, construction worker and drug addict/was caught by surprise by the now deceased woman when he was robbing in her apartment.
CANCUN, Quintana Roo, July 18.- "I did not want to kill her, I overdid it", confessed 21 year old Ricardo Dominguez Arias, the construction worker who murdered the North American Tammy Jenkins, while robbing from her bedroom, in Isla Mujeres.
One of the most horrendous crimes on the island has been solved in five days with the arrest of the young man from Veracruz.
It is a story of alcohol, drugs, and the temptation to rob, that ended in the brutal murder of Tammy Jenkins, committed by Dominguez Arias to silence her screams, when he was caught in the middle of the robbery.
The Judicial Police of the State (PJE) presented the construction worker to the media outlets, yesterday at 21:00 hours, as the culprit of the brutal death of the foreigner.
As we had informed his capture was expected to happen soon after last Wednesday, after the Assistant DA, Miguel Angel Pech Cen had revealed that the Sunday morning crime had been committed by a construction worker.
The police sub-director, Jesus Mena Paullada informed that Dominguez Arias was detained yesterday at 20.00 hours, based on a warrant by the Court of Isla Mujeres. At that moment he was walking in the surroundings of Region 103.
The young man has been in Cancun for 2 years, he is from Veracruz, and worked as a construction worker at the Guadalupana development.
Mena Paullada explained at the press conference that the murderer's identity was discovered mainly from the blood-stained clothing left behind in the apartment of the foreigner, in Villas Marina Paraiso.
The clothing established that the culprit had been earlier at the Casa Blanca bar, where a waitress recognized the clothes worn by her boyfriend's friend, both from Cancun.
A Circumstantial Death
Ironically the crime was prompted by Dominguez Arias' temptation to steal a bicycle that he saw outside of Marina Paraiso, when he left the bar, after he had consumed alcohol and inhaled cocaine.
"I decided to rob, because of a bicycle that I saw at that place", he mentioned briefly at the detention area of the PJE, moments after being arrested.
He explained that he had not intention to murder the North American woman, he just wanted to commit a robbery. "It was the first time I robbed", he alleged.
He recalled that he has been addicted to drugs since he was 18 and that day he had gone to Isla Mujeres to have a nice time.
The police sub-director mentioned that the suspect will spend the night at the PJE facilities and that today in the morning he will be moved to Isla Mujeres, his incarceration will probably take place in Cancun.
The chief of police explained that the crime started to unfold at around 03:00 hours on Sunday, when the young man left the Casa Blanca bar. "He jumped over a fence and entered the apartment area. He went into the room through a hole left by an AC unit", Mena pointed out.
According to the investigation, the construction worker only took a pair of pants from that room that had nobody in it, he left through a small bathroom window that provides access to a patio that neighbors the apartment occupied by the foreigner.
Mena Paullada pointed out that the thief saw the open back door of the other apartment were Tammy Jenkins was sleeping, so he went in to look for valuable objects to rob.
After gathering several objects, he went to the second floor and there he noticed that a woman was sleeping in a room that contained a laptop that he wanted to take.
Under the influence of alcohol and drugs, Dominguez Arias went back to the first floor to look for an object to hit the woman if she would awake. He found a block used by the woman to keep the back door open.
"His intention was to knock her out", stated Mena Paullada.
When he noticed that the foreigner was waking up, he hit her once in the head. According to the criminal's testimony to the police, at that same moment Tammy Jenkins screams, this appears to cause Dominguez Arias to go into panic and he massacres her with stronger blows.
The construction worker had agreed to meet his friend and the bar's waitress at five in the morning at the island's pier to go back to Cancun.
As the investigation progressed, it was discovered that the couple thought it was strange to see Dominguez Arias with clothes different to what he was wearing when he arrived to Isla Mujeres and that he was carrying several suitcases.
Given this, and after finding out about the crime on the island, the waitress and her companion helped to shed light on the death of Tammy Jenkins, which allowed the police to find the whereabouts of the criminal.
(Gabriel Alcocer/Jose Pinto)

July 19, 2003

(Translation of Article posted in, 'POR ESTO'; The Newspaper of Cancun, Mexico)

Murderer of Tammy Jenkins is arrested Ricardo Dominguez Arias, 21 year-old construction worker Ricardo Dominguez Arias, 21 year-old construction worker, was arrested last night under as the suspect of Tammy Jenkins' murder, crime that took place on Sunday 13 in Isla Mujeres.
Under warrant 30/2003, the detention took place at 8 pm in Region 202, where the suspect resides.
During his first declaration, Dominguez Arias, natural of Veracruz, informed that on Saturday a person identified as "the engineer", invited him to go to Isla Mujeres and proceeded to get drunk at the "Casa Blanca" restaurant, where the waitress, girlfriend of his companion, works.
After drinking for 12 hours, at around 3 in the morning he left the restaurant and met a person that offered him some cocaine, which he proceeded to inhale.
Intoxicated he saw a bicycle at the property where the foreigner used to live and jumped over the fence to steal the bike. Once he was inside the property he entered a room to steal more things and he saw that Tammy Jenkins was asleep he went to get a block to scare her in case she woke up.
And that is what happened. The foreign woman woke up, started to scream and the construction worker struck her until he killed her. "The truth is that I overdid it," admitted the suspect. During his confession, he admitted that he changed clothes and left the crime scene. His arrest was assisted thanks to the collaboration of "the engineer" and his girlfriend, whom on Sunday morning met with the construction worker and thought it was strange that he had three suitcases and different clothes to the day before. They then found out about the crime and started to tie lose ends.
At Isla Mujeres, Rock and Heather Jenkins, Tammy's ex-husband and daughter claimed the body from the Medical Examiner's office, and after arranging for the cremation, the day before yesterday at 20 hours, in a private ceremony, spread the ashes in the ocean, near her death scene.
Jose Reynaldo Pachecho Hernandez, marina manager, stated that the only pending thing that remains is to ship her truck back to the United States.



July 19, 2003

Family Statement Released to Mexican and American Media
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For American Media

July 19, 2003

(Translation of article posted in, 'POR ESTO'; The Newspaper of Cancun, Mexico)

Statement from family of Tammy Jenkins regarding arrest of her suspected murderer in Mexico:
"The family of Tammy Jenkins is extremely grateful for the efforts of the Mexican police in apprehending her suspected murderer in Cancun, Mexico yesterday. We are particularly appreciative of the work done on this case by Lic. Jesus Mena Paullada, Sub-director De La Policia Judicial, Zone Norte Del Estado, who has overseen the investigation and treated us with the utmost respect.
"We also very much appreciate the responsiveness and support of the American Consulate in Cancun and Merida, as well as the FBI and the staffs of U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert and Colorado Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell. Their efforts were instrumental in bringing necessary attention to this tragedy, facilitating our interaction with the Mexican government and helping our family deal with our very difficult loss.
"Conversely, we are tremendously disappointed, angered and saddened that some members of the Mexican media chose to report erroneous and unsubstantiated information on this case over the past few days. We are incensed that some of the coverage could be so unconscionably insensitive and disrespectful to Tammy, her family and her friends. This coverage was a terrible violation of our dear family member's privacy, dignity and honor, and it unnecessarily created many more victims in this tragedy--the friends and family who were exposed to it. We hope legal action will be taken by the Mexican government to prevent anyone from being victimized by this kind of gross journalistic sensationalism and misconduct in the future."