Confessed Killer of American Back in Jail

A man wanted in connection with the fatal shooting of an American business executive was re-arrested Tuesday, more than a month after a criminal court judge had set him free.

Alfonso Gonzalez Sanchez, alias El Chucky, was picked up by detectives in the afternoon as he entered a supermarket in a working-class neighborhood, Mexico City's judicial police chief said.

Gonzalez was arrested Dec. 30 along with four other members of a gang of muggers he headed. The gang was wanted for the fatal shooting of Peter Zarate, a real estate sales executive, but all five were released Jan. 2.

Judge Maria Claudia Campuzano of the 49th Criminal Court argued at the time the investigation was flawed and that the case put together by prosecutors was so deficient the evidence was too confusing for a conviction.

Zarate was held up as he arrived in a taxi outside his home Dec. 15 and was apparently shot dead when he resisted being robbed.

Gonzalez confessed to the shooting but later claimed he was tortured into signing the confession.

Gonzalez was taken to jail on Tuesday evening and booked on a provisional charge of aggravated robbery, for which he cannot get bail.

Other charges could be added later before his arraignment.

The four other gang members were being sought.