Salinas found guilty of murder

Salinas found guilty of murder

TOLUCA, Mexico (Reuters): The brother of former Mexican president Carlos Salinas was convicted of murder and sentenced to 50 years in prison on Thursday in a dramatic finale to Mexico's most celebrated trial in recent history.

Judge Ricardo Ojeda found Raul Salinas, 52, guilty of plotting the 1994 murder of Jose Francisco Ruiz Massieu, the No. 2 man in the long-ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party to which the Salinas brothers belonged.

"I must say there was no confession from the guilty party nor direct proof of his guilt. But his responsibility in the crime was shown through circumstantial evidence," Ojeda said in a written statement.

Salinas' lawyers said they would appeal the verdict and had two more chances by law to free their client, who has come to symbolize how the once untouchable power of Mexican politicians has come undone through democratic change.