Murdered Mexican trumpeter 3rd musician killed in a week

A trumpet player was found dead with his hands and feet bound and a nylon bag over his head in southern Mexico, the third murder of a musician in Mexico inless than a week.

Jose Luis Aquino, 33, played for 14 yearswith Los Conde, which was founded in Tututepec, Oaxaca, and later moved to the resort town of Puerto Escondido.

Aquinowas found in southern Mexico, unlike two earlier victims discovered last weekend Sergio Gomez, a singer with K-Paz de la Sierra, and singer Zayda Pena who were found in a northernprovince of the country.

On Thursday, Grammy organizers announced that Gomez and another murdered singer, Valentin Elizalde, have been nominated posthumously for Grammy Awards in the banda category.

K-Paz de la Sierra's album, Conquistando Corazones, and Elizalde's most recent effort, Lobo Domesticado, both earned nominations.

Aquino,whose death was announced Thursday,had been hit repeatedly on the head, according to the Oaxaca state attorney general's office.

Authorities are still investigating possible motives but say they suspect a crime of passion.

In the past so-called "narcocorridos," or singers of ballads about crime and drugs, have been killed by organized criminals in Mexico.

Valentin Elizalde was killed in November 2006, after his song To My Enemies became a drug lord's anthem.

However the recent murders have targeted artists who sing mainly about love and loss, leading to fears in Mexico that mainstream singers will be at riskif their music becomes associated with rival gangs.