Mexi: B-girl, cohorts abducted & slew her lover

EL PASO, Texas - An employee of a U.S. district court in the West Texas border city of El Paso was killed after he identified his girlfriend among his kidnappers in neighboring Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.

Jorge Dieppa, 57, had worked for the past seven years as an English-Spanish interpreter at the western district of Texas federal court, and also was a temporary part-time lecturer at the University of Texas at El Paso and a martial-arts instructor.

Tom Hilburger, divisional office manager for the federal court system in El Paso, said yesterday that the last day Dieppa attended work was July 5 and that an FBI agent told him about Dieppa's death in Juarez.

The alleged mastermind of the kidnapping, Lizbeth Rodriguez, 22, was arrested along with Victor Cano, 24, while brawling with other people in an impoverished neighborhood in the outskirts of Juarez. During the booking process, Mexican police officers discovered that the two were wanted in the kidnapping and murder of Dieppa.

A third man, Arturo Tarango, was arrested later. Police are looking for a fourth suspect.

The State of Chihuahua prosecutor's office reported that Rodriguez and Dieppa met more than five years ago in a bar where she worked as a dancer, and had been dating since. It also said that she masterminded the abduction.

Even after Dieppa was killed, his abductors allegedly continued negotiating the $10,000 ransom with family members. When asked for proof of life, Cano tried to imitate the voice of Dieppa but the relatives did not believe it and refused to pay, prosecutors said.

The body was dumped at an abandoned house in Juarez and was found on July 6. It had cuts to the neck and tape over the head.

A spokeswoman for the U.S. consulate in Juarez said Dieppa was a U.S. citizen and therefore the U.S. government will assist the family with the process of bringing back the body.