As 2 different versions of events emerge, Mexican diocese mourns a murdered priest

(OSV News) -- A Mexican priest was drugged and robbed before being murdered, according to court testimony.

Authorities arrested two suspects in the case, a man and a woman, on Nov. 13, and prosecutors have apprehended a third suspect, a woman who said she provided another suspect with a powerful drug to incapacitate the priest.

As the country is torn by violence, the National Dialogue for Peace, an initiative to pacify Mexico, sponsored by the bishops' conference, encouraged people to walk in support of restoring peace on Nov. 23.

Prosecutors in Mexico state, which surrounds Mexico City on three sides, said Nov. 18 that they had detained a third suspect in the murder of Father Ernesto Baltazar Hernández Vilchis -- whose body was found in a sewage canal a week earlier. The state prosecutor's office added in the statement that a court found probable cause to proceed to trial against the two female suspects and the male suspect.

Two different versions of events -- one told by the prosecutor's office and another a court testimony reported by Mexican media -- emerged, however.

Father Hernández was last seen Oct. 27 in the municipality of Tultepec, north of Mexico City, Mexican media reported. The prosecutor's office said Father Hernández traveled in his own vehicle with a woman named Fatima Isabel, whose last name was not published, with whom he had "a relationship of trust," to a residence in the neighboring municipality of Tultitlán on Oct. 29. The prosecutors alleged the priest drank alcohol and did drugs with a man identified as Brandon Jonathan, also without disclosing his last name, the office said.

But Mexican media reported Nov. 18 that toxicology exams found no evidence of alcohol or recreational drugs in Father Hernández's system. Fatima Isabel -- who newsmagazine Proceso identified as an escort -- testified that she provided Brandon Jonathan, the male suspect, with Clonazepam -- a benzodiazepine drug that depresses the nervous system -- which was used to spike Father Hernández's drinks. Brandon Jonathan bound the priest's arms and legs as the priest passed out, the media reported.

In a Nov. 13 statement, prosecutors said that Brandon Jonathan allegedly struck Father Hernández with a sharp object. Fatima Isabel testified that the priest was bludgeoned, according to Proceso. The suspects stuffed Father Hernández's body into black plastic bags and took it to the sewage canal, the prosecutor's office alleges.

The suspects allegedly stole Father Hernández's vehicle and sold it for roughly $2,000 in neighboring Hidalgo state, according to prosecutors.

Father Hernández, 43, was pastor at the Santa Cruz Parish in Tultepec, a Mexico City suburb known for fireworks manufacturing and sales -- and notorious for mishaps provoking spectacular explosions.

"We give thanks to God for the life and ministry of Father Ernesto, for his generous dedication to the Gospel and for his pastoral service, which is a fruitful seed that will continue to bear fruit in the church," the Diocese of Cuautitlán said in a Nov. 13 statement.

"As a church, we join in the cry of so many families suffering from violence and disappearances in our country and we ask that this painful reality that wounds the lives of our communities be brought to an end."

Mexico has convulsed with violence in recent years, despite official statistics showing a decline in the murder rate. The violence has claimed the lives of at least 10 priests between 2019 and 2024, according to the Catholic Multimedia Center, which tracks violence against the church.

Massive protests in November followed the killing of Uruapan Mayor Carlos Manzo, who was shot dead during a Day of the Dead event Nov. 1, 2025.

"We are witnessing an awakening of citizens tired of the extortion and insecurity that dominates large regions of the national territory," said a Nov. 10 statement from the National Dialogue for Peace, an initiative to pacify Mexico, sponsored by the bishops' conference, the Jesuits and the Conference of Religious Superiors of Mexico.

"We invite you to walk and talk about the actions we need to undertake to restore peace in the country" on Nov. 23, the statement said, calling people to "carry out actions for peace: walks, celebrations, conversations, family gatherings, youth activities, parish or ecumenical prayer events for the disappeared in your town squares."