Two suspects arrested in missionary killings
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Bolivian authorities have arrested two brothers suspected in the shooting deaths of two missionaries here May 24.
The missionaries, Elder Todd R. Wilson, 20, of Wellington, Utah, and Elder Jeffrey T. Ball, 20, of Coalville, Utah, were gunned down by automatic weapons fire as they were about to enter their La Paz apartment. One died at the scene and the other died en route to the hospital. (See Church News, May 27 and June 3.)The two men who were arrested June 30 are Nestor and Felix Encinas, members of the Zarate Willika Liberation Army that claimed responsibility for the murders and other terrorist acts.
The arrests were announced by Interior Minister Eduardo Perez, Bolivia's top law official. Officers said they have significant evidence linking the suspects to the crimes.
Three other members of the rebel group were arrested earlier in the week in connection with the bomb attack against former Secretary of State George Shultz.
Robert Wharton, press attache at the U.S. Embassy here, said FBI investigators and a $500,000 reward for information leading to the conviction of the missionaries' killers were factors that may have helped in the investigation, but the arrests were the result of "good, solid police work on the part of the Bolivians."
Observers said the sentence for convicted murderers in Bolivia carries a 15- to 20-year prison term. In addition, the killers could also be charged with sedition against the state, which carries a 30-year prison term. Bolivia has no death penalty.
