Francisco Abel Murrieta Gutiérrez (Spanish pronunciation: [fɾanˈsisko aˈβel muˈɾjeta ɣuˈtjeres]; 1 May 1963 – 13 May 2021) was a Mexican lawyer and politician who was a member of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI).

[1] When Guillermo Padrés Elías of the National Action Party (PAN) replaced outgoing governor Eduardo Bours in 2009, he fired the entire cabinet except for Murrieta.

[3][4] In early 2007, a municipal police officer from Navojoa implicated a group of public officials, including Murrieta, in the 2005 disappearance of journalist Alfredo Jiménez Mota.

[5] He testified that a group consisting of state Attorney General Murrieta, former mayor of Hermosillo (and brother of then-governor) Ricardo Robinson-Bours Castelo, Navojoa police director Luis Octavio Gastélum Villegas, and two other high-ranking members of law enforcement conspired with Raúl Enríquez Parra, a powerful Sonoran drug trafficker, to murder the young journalist because he was preparing to expose the relationship between the Sonoran government and organized crime in an upcoming report.

[6] In 2008 another witness came forward; alleged cartel gunman Saúl García Gaxiola confessed to taking part in the kidnapping and murder while corroborating the fact that Murrieta and Bours were complicit in the crime.

[4][7] In a letter, he described Jiménez's last days, where Parra Enríquez tortured him into revealing his sources and told him that he would face no consequences for killing him on account of his relationship with Bours and Murrieta.

[19][22][23] A federal judge ordered the Sonora Attorney General's office to launch an investigation into both Murrieta and Bours for document falsification as well as altering the scene of the crime.

[30] At a press conference less than 24 hours after his death, Murrieta emphasized Moreno's criminal past while omitting the fact he was absolved of his charges, implying that the shooting was unrelated to his recent activism.

[31] Prominent poet and activist Javier Sicilia called on the governor to fire Murrieta, saying that Moreno had sought protection from the government after receiving multiple death threats and he had failed to take action.

[1] In 2013 he fought for misallocated funds to be rightfully distributed to the Sonora Institute of Technology, a school he taught business law at from 1985 to 1990,[1] noting that they had received less than half of its promised budget from the state government.

[43] He was standing on a street corner distributing flyers for his campaign for the municipal presidency (now under the Citizens' Movement banner) when a car approached and fired multiple shots, hitting him in the head.