former intelligence official fred burton has been studying a turf war in mexico between two drug cartels. a former band of military guards called the zetas and the more traditional gulf coast cartel. what most people don t realize when you re looking at the border is that there are certain portions that are not controlled by the mexican government. and the area of falcon lake was directly controlled by the zetas, and this was a very strong smuggling corridor for them. reporter: so you believe this was mistaken identity? clearly, all evidence indicates that this was a case of mistaken identity base on the tactical intelligence i ve seen surrounding the case. the most likely scenario is, david and tiffany hartley had wandered into a drug war and were mistaken as the enemy. reporter: zapata county sheriff siggy gonzalez believes the hartleys not only wandered into a war but arrive on the mexican side of falcon lake at the exact moment a cartel was about to move a large amount of
reporter: in the case of david hartley, that includes the cartel inflicting its own investigation and its own brand of justice. security expert fred burton has followed the case closely. it s my understanding that the individuals that were involved with the killing of mr. hartley were in essence picked up and killed by the zetas themselves. reporter: the killers were killed? correct. the killers were killed by the organization, because, remember, this is bad for business. reporter: if the killers are dead, tiffany hartley may never be able to prove what happened. she knows how many people still don t believe her story. and she and david were just sightseeing, that she tried to save him. that she outran boats with gunmen firing at her, in interviews she remains
Transcripts for CNN Murder in Mexico Falcon Lake 20140105 02:32:30 archive.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from archive.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
we ve had along the border shootings. we ve had along the border murders. home invasions, burglaries, rapes. all types of crime where it s associated with what i call spillover violence. reporter: siggy gonzalez has been the sheriff for 16 year. i remember when i first started in the 1970s when this was used for human trafficking. been used like that forever. reporter: and lately, even before the hartley s trip to falcon lake, gonzalez says a new threat has emerged. pirates. totally inaccurate. definition of piracy a lot different than when i know it to be. had one robbery on the lake totally.
you know, yelling for help and looking for anybody who would help me, but knowing in was not going to be anybody. reporter: but somebody was still there. she claims standing over her, a gunman in one of the boats. reporter: did you think, this was it? uh-huh. i told him, please, don t shoot. please, don t. reporter: in a moment of apparent confusion, hartley says she saw her chance to flee. the gun would be on me, and then he d take it off and then he d put it back on me. it s like he didn t know what to do with me. do i shoot her? did i not? that s when they left to go meet the other boats. reporter: racing towards the u.s., she passed the boat slip where she and david launched from less than an hour earlier. the boat s in pursuit.