Leonard Francis Schell, Canadian Murdered In Mexico, Stabbed 25 Times

THE CANADIAN PRESS -- OTTAWA - A Canadian man who spoke of the "beauty and splendour" of living in Mexico was found dead in his Puerto Vallarta home last week after being stabbed 25 times, Mexican media are reporting.

Leonard Francis Schell, a 62-year-old satellite TV installer, died May 30, local news outlet Noticias de Nayarit said. It quoted the state attorney general's office.

The Department of Foreign Affairs would only confirm the death of a Canadian in Mexico.

"Canadian consular officials in Puerto Vallarta are working closely with local authorities to gather additional information," said spokesman Alain Cacchione.

The local report said Schell's Mexican wife, Elba Ruiz Castro, left the morning of May 30 for an hour and returned to find a trail of blood leading to her home. Inside, she reportedly found Schell's body stabbed in the face, neck and back. The safe was also open, and about $13,000 was missing.

"One of the motives for us is robbery, because the safe was opened ... the wife says only she and her husband knew the combination," attorney general spokesman Sergio Grajeda told Noticias de Nayarit.

"There are very good leads, and we're hoping for results very soon, and so for that reason we're not going to offer any more information so that our investigators can do more work. Right now they're picking up all the footprints left at the scene and using that they're working with the homicide group ..."

Schell installed satellite TV in the Puerto Vallarta area and wrote an account of some of the issues with getting the service in Mexico in 2006. He called the resort city a "beautiful place to live."

"As a guest in this country, I get to enjoy all of its beauty and splendour, and still have all the amenities of 'home,"' he wrote.