SIDEKICK OF SLAIN MEXICAN COMEDIAN IS ARRESTED

MEXICO CITY (AP) -- The on-stage sidekick of Mexican television host Paco
Stanley was arrested Friday for alleged involvement in the murder of the
popular entertainer. Four other people also were arrested and a jailed
suspected drug trafficker was accused of ordering the slaying.

Mario Bezares, who had been under house arrest since last month, was
detained at his home and taken to a Mexico City penitentiary, the city
Attorney General's Office said.

An arrest warrant was issued for suspected drug trafficker Luis Amezcua for
allegedly ordering Stanley's killing because of a drug debt, the city's
chief prosecutor, Samuel del Villar, told reporters. Amezcua is already
imprisoned in Mexico City while fighting a U.S. extradition request on
drug-smuggling charges.

Stanley, the humorous host of a popular morning variety program, was gunned
down on June 7 in a brazen midday attack along a busy Mexico City freeway.

Bezares, frequently the butt of Stanley's heavy-handed humor, initially
came under suspicion because he remained behind in a restaurant bathroom
while Stanley walked out to his car, where he was slain.

On Wednesday, with rumors flying of his impending arrest, Bezares went on
television to proclaim his innocence. He called on President Ernesto
Zedillo to intervene to prevent a miscarriage of justice.

The other four suspects arrested Friday were an alleged assassin who
matched witnesses' descriptions of one of the killers, a young female aide
to Stanley, one of the TV host's former chauffeurs and a former aide to
Bezares.

The warrants accuse the suspects with two murders -- Stanley's and that of
a bystander who died in the gunfire -- and the attempted murder of three
people who were wounded in the shooting.

The killing of Stanley outraged many Mexicans who have watched crime soar
in recent years.