Canadian Bouabal Bounthavorn Murdered in Cabo San Lucas Hotel

Canadian Bouabal Bounthavorn, 29, has been named as the victim of a murder in a Mexican resort city hotel room.

Mexican police say a lone gunman shot the victim three times in the head late Thursday in Cabo San Lucas, a city at the southern tip of the Baja Peninsula.

Masha Heikali, Bounthavorn, his 24-year-old girlfriend, was shot in one foot.

Mexican police say that no one has been arrested so far. Investigators have no leads, but say they are working hard to solve the case.

"It's very important for me and for all the people working (on this investigation) that we catch the people who did this crime," Luis Diegas Gasso, spokesperson for the Cabo San Lucas police, told CTV News.

Foreign Affairs Canada has confirmed a Canadian was killed, that consular assistance is being provided to the family and that consular officials are in contact with Mexican authorities. Beyond that, the department said it can't provide further details, citing the Privacy Act.

Gar Pardy, former director general of consular affairs, said reports of the crime suggest it may have not been a random incident, although nothing has been confirmed.

"The method of the death here, three shots to the head, I think is quite significant, probably," he said. "It don't think this suggests it's an interrupted robbery or something like that."

A number of high-profile violent incidents involving Canadian tourists have occurred in Mexico in recent years.

Domenic and Nancy Ianiero of Woodbridge, Ont. were found murdered at a resort near Playa del Carmen, Mexico in February 2006. No arrests were ever made, but at one point, Mexican authorities considered two women from Thunder Bay, Ont. to be suspects.

Another Woodbridge resident, 19-year-old Adam DePrisco, died outside an Acapulco nightclub in January 2007.

A Mexican doctor said the teen died after being struck by a hit-and-run driver, but DePrisco's family maintained he was beaten to death.

Jeff Toews of Grande Prairie, Alta. died in May 2007 in Cancun after partying in a nightclub. Mexican authorities say he fell from the second floor of his hotel. Toews' family claimed at the time that his injuries came from a severe beating.