Relatives of a Toronto-area man killed in Mexico hope X-rays of his injuries and an autopsy to be performed will tell them how he died.

There is disagreement over how Adam DePrisco, 19, centre, of Woodbridge died in an Acapulco hospital on Monday.
(Courtesy of DePrisco Family)

Adam DePrisco, 19, of Woodbridge died in an Acapulco hospital on Monday. Mexican police say he was a victim of a hit-and-run, but his relatives believe he was beaten to death after dancing with a local woman in a nightclub.

DePrisco's body arrived at Toronto's Pearson International Airport late Friday.

Sandro Bellio, DePrisco's uncle, told CBC News early Friday that there is no question in his mind what happened.

"He was brutally beaten, murdered and left for dead on the street. They took him down the street, threw him on the side of the road and made it look like a car hit him," he said.

Bellio, who travelled to Acapulco this week, brought back X-rays of DePrisco's head injuries and said he checked the body himself.

"This wasn't a car accident. There was no bruises, body damage, broken ribs. There was nothing on his body whatsoever. I checked myself. The trauma was all head injury."

A man walks past the entrance to the night club Mandara, near where Adam DePrisco was killed last week in Acapulco.
(Gonzalo Perez/Associated Press)

Bellio said he talked to doctors at two hospitals in Acapulco but was frustrated in his efforts to gather detailed information. He said there were unconfirmed reports that witnesses saw DePrisco on Saturday night being beaten outside the nightclub.

"Last night, somebody came forth, he didn't want to identify himself, and he said that he witnessed that the doormen and a taxi driver were involved in this beating, and basically took him down the road from the driveway, maybe a thousand feet out and dropped his body on the side of the road," he said.

"It's a very busy road so they made it look like this happened."

An Acapulco city official told the Associated Press on condition of anonymity on Thursday that witnesses saw nightclub staff and a taxi driver beating DePrisco the night he was found badly injured by the side of a road.

York Region Police have told the family that they will help investigate, although the RCMP told Bellio that they are withdrawing from the case.

Dr. Barry McLellan, Ontario chief coroner, has ordered an autopsy.

Tony DePrisco, Adam's older brother, told CBC News on Friday that the family is "not doing very well" because there is no closure. He said Canadian tourists in Mexico need to realize that they are on their own if they get in trouble in the country.

"I hope, No. 1, that they find these guys. No. 2, if you do travel to Mexico, that's fine, but be careful if you get hurt because there is nothing to help you," he said.

Marco Calabro, DePrisco's travelling companion, told the Canadian Press on Thursday that their hotel room was robbed while DePrisco lay dying in hospital of head injuries. He said he also thinks his friend was murdered.

Calabro has said that his friend was thrown out of the nightclub by a bouncer.

"One doctor came out and told me that the injuries he had were not from a car. He told me that to my face," Calabro told CBC News on Thursday.

A year ago, a couple also from Woodbridge, a suburb north of Toronto, were killed in Mexico. The bodies of Dominic and Nancy Ianiero were found in their luxury hotel room at a resort near Cancun, their throats slit.

Mexican police initially named two Thunder Bay, Ont., women as suspects. Cheryl Everall and Kimberly Kim have set up a website to clear their names and to demand that the federal government issue a travel advisory to let Canadian tourists know that parts of Mexico are not safe.

With files from the Canadian Press