Man Was Apparently Tortured To Death

Burns Found Even on Beating Victim's Feet

The man whose naked body was found behind a Prince George's County church this week had been beaten and burned in an apparent act of torture, and investigators are exploring whether he was targeted as part of some gang or drug activity, police said.

Investigators are weighing all possibilities in Monday's slaying of Pedro Nelson Sanchez-Bautista, 43, but police said publicly that the brutal manner in which he was killed strongly suggests that his death was not the result of a random mugging or robbery attempt. Sanchez-Bautista, who lived in the Landover Hills area, had burns even on his feet, police said.

"We're keeping everything on the table. . . . But this type of homicide, there's no way that this is just some random event," said Capt. Misty Mints, a police department spokeswoman.

A staff member at Ascension Lutheran Church and Day School called police about 7:30 a.m. Monday after finding the body in the parking lot near a basketball court and playground, police have said. Neighbors of the church, in the 7400 block of Buchanan Street in the Landover Hills area, said youths drinking and using drugs frequent the area at night.

Sanchez-Bautista's uncle told WTTG-FOX 5 that his nephew was not involved in gangs or drugs. The uncle also told the station that Sanchez-Bautista left for a construction job the morning he was killed. He had been sending money to his wife and four young sons in El Salvador, the uncle said.