A trumpet player was found dead with his hands and feet bound and a nylon bag over his head in southern Mexico, the third murder of a musician in Mexico in less than a week. Jose Luis Aquino, 33, played for 14 years with Los Conde, which was founded in Tututepec, Oaxaca, and later moved to the resort town of Puerto Escondido.

Aquino was found in southern Mexico, unlike two earlier victims discovered last weekend — Sergio Gomez, a singer with K-Paz de la Sierra, and singer Zayda Pena — who were found in a northern province of the country.

On Thursday, Grammy organizers announced that Gomez and another murdered singer, Valentin Elizalde, have been nominated posthumously for Grammy Awards in the banda category.

K-Paz de la Sierra’s album, Conquistando Corazones, and Elizalde’s most recent effort, Lobo Domesticado, both earned nominations.

Aquino, whose death was announced Thursday, had been hit repeatedly on the head, according to the Oaxaca state attorney general’s office.

Authorities are still investigating possible motives but say they suspect a crime of passion.

In the past so-called “narcocorridos,” or singers of ballads about crime and drugs, have been killed by organized criminals in Mexico.

Valentin Elizalde was killed in November 2006, after his song To My Enemies became a drug lord’s anthem.

However the recent murders have targeted artists who sing mainly about love and loss, leading to fears in Mexico that mainstream singers will be at risk if their music becomes associated with rival gangs.

Jonathan Martinez, 22, and Gustavo Alejandro, 35, from the local band La Excelencia were murdered in a bar in the capitol of the Mexican state of Jalisco by four suspected gang members.

When their set drew to a close La Excelencia were angrily goaded into playing two more songs before the propertier of the bar called time at 4am. The crowd proved tough when one of the four suspects threw a grenade onto the stage, injuring one and causing a panic stricken audience to stampede towards the exit.

As customers and the musicians ran for the door, the four men opened fire.