SAN FERNANDO VALLEY : Berman Believes L.A. Man Was Slain in Mexico Jail

A San Fernando Valley congressman has taken the unusual step of writing directly to the president of Mexico over the purported suicide of a North Hollywood man in a Baja California jail, contending “the evidence strongly suggests murder.”

Rep. Howard L. Berman (D-Panorama City) called on Mexican President Carlos Salinas de Gortari to see that justice is done in the investigation of the death of Mario Amado, 29, who died June 6 in a Rosarito Beach jail shortly after police arrested him on the grounds of public drunkenness and disorderly conduct.

Mexican authorities said Amado hanged himself with his sweater from the bars of a cell window, but Amado’s family has amassed medical evidence indicating that he was beaten to death. In a two-page letter to the Mexican president, Berman said he is “convinced that Mr. Amado did not commit suicide.”