Cause of Canadian's death in Mexico kept private
Ontario's chief coroner concluded the autopsy on a Toronto-area man who died this week in Mexico, butthe family does not want the cause of death to be released to the public.
DePrisco,a 19-year-old fromWoodbridge,died in an Acapulco hospital on Monday. His body was returned to Canada late Friday.
Mexican police have said DePrisco was a victim of a hit-and-run accident, but his relatives havebeen vocal inmedia interviews this weeksaying they believe he was beaten to death after dancing with a local woman in a nightclub.
Dr. Barry McLellan conducted the second autopsySaturday afternoon, after a firstperformed in Mexico.
McLellantoldreporters the family received the autopsy results, but requested the information not be disclosed.
He saidhe understands the case has garnered a large amount of public interest, but asked that the family's privacy be respected.
Theautopsyresults have also been passed onto Foreign Affairs if it wishes to send them to Mexicanauthorities, McLellan said.
DePrisco's uncle Sandro Bellio, who went to Acapulco this week, told CBC News early Friday, before the autopsy was conducted,thathe had no doubt what happened to his nephew.
"He was brutally beaten, murdered and left for dead on the street. They took him down the street, threw him on the side of the road and made it look like a car hit him," he said.
He also said there were unconfirmed reportsthat witnesses sawDePrisco on Saturday night being beatenoutside the nightclub.
A year earlier,a couple who were also from Woodbridge — Dominic and Nancy Ianiero — were found in their hotel room with their throats slit.
Questions were raised as the Mexican police initially named two women from Thunder Bay, Ont., as suspects. The women and others accused the Mexican authorities of trying to pin the blame on foreigners in order to protect the country's lucrative tourism industry.
With files from the Canadian Press