Grisly details emerge in Utah couple’s execution-style murders

The 12-year-old boy who survived a roadside robbery that killed his Utah stepfather and mother in Mexico recounted graphic, new details of their execution-style murders, according to a report.

Paul Nielsen, his wife Janet Vasquez and her son, Kevin, were driving through the Guerrero state on July 18 when the gunmen killed the couple and left the child abandoned on the side of the road, ABC4 News reported.

Though Kevin was left shaken, he was able to recount disturbing information about the couple’s final moments, according to his stepsister who said Sunday that he was “present for everything” and “very traumatized.”

“They were driving on the highway when three vehicles began chasing them and Kevin said that his mother shouted that they were going to assault them,” Nielsen’s daughter, Priscilla, said in a statement. “Our dad accelerated. Kevin heard shots fired, our dad lost control of the car and it went off the road.”

The armed assailants reportedly forced the family out of the vehicle and robbed them. It’s unclear when the couple was killed, but the suspects drove to a different location where they left Kevin with the couple’s bodies, the family said.

“Kevin attempted to get help from passing drivers but no one paid attention until the state police arrived,” said Priscilla, who added that the boy was not shot in the incident despite previous reports.

She said that Kevin is now living with other relatives in a location that hasn’t been disclosed for his safety.

Nielsen, 48, of Utah, reportedly became Kevin’s stepfather three years ago when he tied the knot with 43-year-old Vasquez, who is originally from Puebla, Mexico.

“Immigration was not a reasonable option so our dad split his time between Mexico and Utah,” Nielsen’s daughter said. “Our dad was the only member of the family, either in Utah or Mexico, who was bilingual, but despite that Kevin always had a soft spot for my little sister, who’s 7.”

The family was on a vacation in Zihuatanejo, a tourist destination on the Pacific Coast, when the couple was gunned down.

Initial reports said Nielsen and Vasquez were shot execution-style after allegedly failing to stop at a checkpoint in Petatlan.

Local authorities are investigating their murders, which have been by condemned by Guerrero Gov. Hector Astudillo Flores.

“As for the investigation, we don’t know very much about its status, but we’ve been told that both governments are working to find the killers,” the family said.

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