Farath Coronel—a contributor to the TV show *Hoy* and a psychic known in the entertainment world as “La Diabla” (The She-Devil) or “El Brujo Mexicano” (The Mexican Warlock)—was shot to death on the morning of Friday, September 4, inside his home in the Bosques del Lago neighborhood of Cuautitlán Izcalli, State of Mexico.
Hours after the body was discovered, agents from the State of Mexico Attorney General’s Office (FGJEM) arrested Elías, who was identified as both the material perpetrator and the mastermind behind the killing. The accused worked as a private bodyguard and was a member of the victim’s personal security team.
Official investigations and testimonies gathered by prosecutors indicate that the crime was directly preceded by a heated workplace dispute and verbal abuse directed by the media personality at his security staff.
A recording made the night before the murder circulated on social media; it shows Farath Coronel berating his bodyguards with harsh language regarding their job performance. In the video, the psychic scolds them for lapses during their shifts and for losing money, demanding absolute obedience to his orders.
“If you want to tell me something isn’t right… shut your damn mouth, because you are an employee. An employee has to follow the rules,” he is heard saying in the recording. “Because there are days when you’ll stay up all night with me if I say so. As bodyguards—I could be committing crimes, screwing, drinking, doing whatever I want—and you have to protect me… Here, my luxuries and pleasures come first, and your salary comes second.”
This argument, along with complaints about the guards falling asleep during their shifts, became the primary motive that triggered the attack. According to investigations by the FGJEM and audio recordings provided by the victim’s associates, Farath Coronel was drinking alcohol with his bodyguard, Elías, on Friday morning when the assailant used the victim’s own firearm to shoot him at point-blank range inside the home.
After committing the homicide, Elías left the residence, deleted his instant messaging accounts, deactivated his phone line, and attempted to go into hiding in the municipality of Naucalpan, near the entrance to the La Chamapa-Lechería highway.
Local residents alerted security forces after hearing the gunshots. Upon arriving at the home, officers confirmed the psychic’s death. Minutes later, the investigation launched by the FGJEM led to Elías being located and arrested in the State of Mexico.
The detainee was placed at the disposal of the State of Mexico Public Prosecutor’s Office; within the next few hours, authorities will bring him before a supervisory judge at a state prison to formally charge him with aggravated homicide.
