ADVISORY/Guadalajara Press Conference to Announce New Disclosures in Murder Case of San Antonio Express-News Journalist Philip True.

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ADVISORY...for TUESDAY (Nov. 25)

GUADALAJARA, Mexico--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 24, 2003

Important new information in the Philip True murder case will be made public at a press conference at Guadalajara's Hilton Hotel Tuesday, Nov. 25, at 10 a.m.

December marks the fifth anniversary since True, the Mexico City bureau chief for the San Antonio Express-News, was murdered while traveling alone in Huichol territory near the Jalisco-Nayarit state border.

The conviction of two Huichol men remains on appeal in the Jalisco state courts. Tuesday's press conference will bring to light new disclosures in the case.

  WHO: Miguel Gatins, a principal figure in the defense of the two
        accused Huichols, will publicly end his support of the men
       Martha True, Philip True's widow
       Robert Rivard, editor of the San Antonio Express-News
       Patricia Morales, lead investigator for the defense

 WHEN: Tuesday, 10 a.m. Nov. 25

WHERE: Hilton Hotel, Salon Asia
       Avenida de las Rosas # 2933
       Col. Riconada del Bosque
       Guadalajara, Jalisco
       Hotel telephone: [phone]

The conviction for simple homicide of two Huichol men, brothers-in-law Juan Chivarra and Miguel Hernandez de la Cruz, remains on appeal in the Jalisco state courts. The defendants, who remain free, reside in the vicinity of where True was killed and where his grave was discovered.

The defendants were caught in possession of True's camping gear and personal effects. Both men confessed to killing True in anger over what they believed was his unauthorized presence in the area.

U.S. citizen and Guadalajara resident Miguel Gatins, one of the principal figures in the defense of the two Huichols, will join True's widow, Martha True; Robert Rivard, editor of the San Antonio Express-News; and Patricia Morales, lead investigator for the defense, to announce his decision to end his support for the two men after new evidence came to light convincing him of their guilt. Gatins has paid the legal fees for the defense lawyer in the case, but has declared he will no longer support their defense.

True's body was found in a hidden grave in the Chapalagana Canyon nearly two weeks after he disappeared following a massive search by friends, colleagues, Mexican soldiers and Huichol Indians. His belongings were missing and his body had been taken away from the place where he was killed.

A state autopsy concluded True had been strangled. A second, extraofficial autopsy conducted by federal authorities concluded that True probably died from an accumulation of fluid in his lungs -- which might have been triggered by the impact of a hard fall from a mountain ledge. The contradictory findings by different forensics teams caused many to question whether True's death was a homicide or the result of a hiking accident.

While Chivarra and Hernandez confessed to killing True, they later changed their statements, at first changing their rationale for killing the U.S. reporter, then later disavowing the act. The accused spent two years in jail, and were released in August 2001 after a lower court judge ruled there was insufficient evidence to support a murder charge. An appeals court later reversed that decision, finding the men guilty of simple homicide and sentencing them to 13-year prison terms. They have remained free in the ensuing two years while the conviction remains on appeal in Guadalajara.

Mr. Gatins, who is known for his contributions to various Guadalajara charitable causes, paid the legal fees for the defendants, and became an unofficial spokesman on their behalf in both the Mexican and U.S. media. Gatins has promised to discuss how new information came to his attention convincing him the two men did kill True.

Mr. Gatins, Mrs. True, Ms. Morales and Mr. Rivard will offer prepared statements at the press conference and then be available for follow up questions and telephone interviews.

For further information, please contact Minea Nieto, San Antonio Express-News, Mexico City bureau administrator, at 011-52-55-5211-8919 or [e-mail].