MEXICO CITY, July 9 (Xinhua) -- At least five people were murdered in three Mexican states in the past few hours, including Nuevo Leon in the north, Michoacan in the south and Jalisco in the west, police said on Monday.

    Nuevo Leon's police reported that the dead body of a man between 30 and 40 years of age was found in Santa Catarina, a borough of Nuevo Leon's capital city, Monterrey. The man was almost naked except for a plastic bag covering his head after he had been stabbed to death.

    Elsewhere, police also found the dead body of a man of 55, in Cumbres Las Palomas near western Monterrey.

    Michoacan's police reported two deaths. In the first case, gunmen shot at Josue Hernandez Trujillo, 30, and an unnamed man, who were fueling their truck. Hernandez died on the spot, and his companion was sent to Uruapan General Hospital. Authorities said they had identified the criminal.

    The second case occurred in the town of Coalcoman, police said, gunmen shot at Margarita Gutierrez Sanchez, 32, who was seven months pregnant and Jose de Jesus Cardenas Ochoa, 25. Gutierrez died on the spot while Cardenas is in hospital with three gunshot wounds.

    In Jalisco, authorities found the dead body of Jose Alfredo Islas Gonzalez, 17, who had been killed, and then dumped in a warehouse in Tonala.

    Mexican newspapers said that more than 1,400 people have died from violence in Mexico this year, many of whom were killed at the hands of drug traffickers.