Son of wealthy Mexican landowner is arrested for summer murder of retired California couple who were stabbed in their beds and dumped in a well at beach house they'd rented from the family for 35 years
Mexican authorities announced Tuesday that they have arrested a man wanted for the August 2020 murder of a San Diego retired couple whose bodies were discovered inside a well.
Ava Setzer told the San Diego Union-Tribune that the family believes her father, Ian Hirschsohn, 78, and his girlfriend, Kathy Harvey, 73, were killed August 29 while they were sleeping at a home that Hirschsohn rented in the beach town of El Socorro from the alleged killer's father.
'We believe they were stabbed in their sleep in the middle of the night,' Setzer said.
Setzer confirmed the murder suspect's name to DailyMail.com as Emmanuel Aguilar, whom she said has a prior history of drug use and had been out of a rehabilitation program before he killed Hirschsohn and Harvey.
She added that Aguilar is the son of the land owners of the ranch that Hirschsohn had rented for over 35 years in San QuintÃn, and that the motive behind the murder is unknown.
'I was really surprised by this information because I suspected it was somebody that came that knew there were a bunch of Americans living there and had a field day,' Setzer during a phone interview from her home in Oregon. 'I haven't spoke to anybody yet. I am still in shock.
Ian Hirschsohn and Kathy Harvey, both of San Diego, were murdered August 29, 2020 while vacationing at a ranch in El Socorrito, south of San Quintin, about 200 miles south of the Mexican border. They were reported missing September 2 and found inside a well September 5. The arrest of the killer was announced Tuesday by the Baja California Attorney General's Office. He was identified as Emmanuel Aguilar by Hirschsohn's daughter, Ava Setzer, in a text message to DailyMail.com
The arrest of Emmanuel Aguilar was announced Tuesday by the Baja California Attorney General's Office. The suspect is the son of a man who rented a ranch located in the beach town of El Socorrito for over 35 years to Hirschsohn
Hirschsohn, from Solana Beach, and Harvey, a resident of Tierrasanta, were reported missing September 2 and were found September 5 by authorities in the bottom of a well that is located four miles from the town of San QuintÃn.
Robert Harvey told CBS8 he received a text from his mom on the evening of August 28 saying they were planning on going to a gold mine or to a beach.
They were due to return to San Diego on August 31 after spending around a week on vacation together, and were never heard from again.
The prosecutor's office initially thought the suspect was a drug user who invaded the home believing nobody was living there.
Pictured is Ian Hirschsohn, one of two San Diego retirees who were reportedly killed August 29, 2020, while sleeping with his girlfriend Kathy Harvey at a home he rented in the Mexican beach town of El Socorro
Kathy Harvey was found dead in a well in Mexico on September 5 with her boyfriend Ian Hirschsohn. They were reported missing while vacationing near El Socorro, a beach town about 200 miles south of the United States-Mexican border
It said that the killer stabbed Hirschsohn and Harvey and then placed the bodies inside Hirschsohn’s Toyota Land Cruiser before dumping the remains into the well.
Kathy Harvey was a native from New York who lived in Tierrasanta for over three decades before she retired from her job as a physical therapist in 2014.
Hirschsohn graduated from the University of The Witwatersrand in Johannesburg in 1963 with a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering. He obtained a master's degree in engineering sciences from Purdue University in 1966, and completed a second master's degree in aerospace, aeronautical and astronautical engineering in 1967 from Princeton University.
The retired couple was last heard from on August 28 when they texted relatives to say they were going to explore a gold mine or visit a beach
The arrest capped off months of anguish for two families who had taken to social media to share photos and information about their loved ones.
Setzer lauded the work of three detectives from the Ensenada Homicide Division in capturing Aguilar in a country where most of the crimes go unsolved.
For a while she figured her father's and Harvey's remains were not going to be found.
'We have been going to Mexico for 35 years and I know plenty of people who have been through similar circumstances and when he came out missing I was like, 'We're never going to find him,' she said.
'I just know enough about Mexico, I was already kind of setting my own expectations. My brother went to Mexico to meet with them and they were thoroughly invested and I always felt they were really sad for this situation. I can't even imagine the list of other victims that they deal with. The effort that they put in to support was incredible. I really appreciated it.'
Robert Harvey said his mother and Hirschsohn met via an online dating platform and were dating for a couple of years.
'She was really happy with Ian,' he added.
Setzer described her father on a Facebook post as a keen windsurfer and 'seasoned veteran of Baja travel' who had visited the area for more than three decades.