Disappearance of Alfredo Jiménez Mota

In early 2007, a municipal police officer from Navojoa implicated a group of public officials, including Murrieta, in the 2005 disappearance of journalist Alfredo Jiménez Mota.^[5] He testified that a group consisting of state Attorney General Murrieta, former mayor of Hermosillo (and brother of then-governor) Ricardo Robinson-Bours Castelo, Navojoa police director Luis Octavio Gastélum Villegas, and two other high-ranking members of law enforcement conspired with Raúl Enríquez Parra, a powerful Sonoran drug trafficker, to murder the young journalist because he was preparing to expose the relationship between the Sonoran government and organized crime in an upcoming report.^[6] Jiménez had also previously reported on Enríquez Parra's alliance with the Beltrán-Leyva Cartel as well as the infamous Cuarto Pasajero case from only a few months before his disappearance, where Sonoran authorities captured four traffickers in Hermosillo, including Enríquez Parra's brother Daniel, only to suspiciously release the "fourth passenger" Daniel a few hours later after paying a fine of 150 pesos.^[6]

In 2008 another witness came forward; alleged cartel gunman Saúl García Gaxiola confessed to taking part in the kidnapping and murder while corroborating the fact that Murrieta and Bours were complicit in the crime.^[4][7] In a letter, he described Jiménez's last days, where Parra Enríquez tortured him into revealing his sources and told him that he would face no consequences for killing him on account of his relationship with Bours and Murrieta.^[8]

2009 Hermosillo daycare center fire

Significant controversy arose regarding his handling of the daycare center fire in Hermosillo that killed 49 children in June 2009. Governor of Sonora Eduardo Bours admitted a few days afterwards that the daycare's owners had familial ties to state government officials, state PRI party officials and First Lady Margarita Zavala.^[9] After initially stating that the result of an independent investigation found a faulty air conditioning system to blame,^[10][11] Murrieta went on a media campaign accusing the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS) of criminal negligence, stating that they had been aware of safety violations in the building ever since they had sent the daycare a letter in 2005 detailing their violations.^[12][13] In July he announced the arrest of two IMSS workers and seven state employees, telling reporters that he would resign if they could prove he was lying about the investigation.^[14] All seven state employees would be released on bail.^[15] All three co-owners of the establishment would be released on bond and then absolved of guilt.^[15] In addition, the only government official to serve any time was Delia Irene Botello Amante, the last government employee to visit the daycare before the fire, who was arrested in 2011 and released in 2014 on a technicality.^[15]

A year after the disaster the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation ruled that although there were serious violations, no public official could be held legally responsible for the events that transpired.^[16] Soon thereafter a coalition of victims' parents formed the Movimiento Ciudadano por la Justicia 5 de Junio in their fight for justice.^[17] Among other demands for recently-elected governor Guillermo Padrés Elías, they asked for Murrieta's removal from office due to perceived obstruction of justice.^[16][18] The initial public support he had when he entered office a year prior had dropped due to his refusal to dismiss Murrieta.^[19]

In September 2016 it came to light that the letter that Murrieta claimed was sent to the daycare center in 2005 had been falsified by state government officials in an attempt to divert attention and shift blame away from the government, since the fire had actually begun in an adjacent warehouse used by the state secretariat of finance to store documents.^[20][21] A hypothesis that was investigated was that the fire was intentionally started in the warehouse with the purpose of destroying potential evidence of excessive debts incurred by the Bours government.^[19][22][23] A federal judge ordered the Sonora Attorney General's office to launch an investigation into both Murrieta and Bours for document falsification as well as altering the scene of the crime.^[24][25]

The entire scandal has since become emblematic of the impunity, corruption and nepotism exhibited by public officials in the country.^{[26][27][28][29]}

Murder of Nepomuceno Moreno Nuñez

In November 2011, peace activist Nepomuceno Moreno Núñez was gunned down in broad daylight while driving in Hermosillo; he had risen to prominence after tirelessly speaking out against organized crime and corruption and directly blaming state police for working with criminal organizations in his son's kidnapping the year prior.^[30] At a press conference less than 24 hours after his death, Murrieta emphasized Moreno's criminal past while omitting the fact he was absolved of his charges, implying that the shooting was unrelated to his recent activism.^{[citation needed]} The almost-immediate criminalization of the victim garnered significant criticism from both journalists and activists.^[31] Prominent poet and activist Javier Sicilia called on the governor to fire Murrieta, saying that Moreno had sought protection from the government after receiving multiple death threats and he had failed to take action.^[31][32]