John Ross, a freelancer for the San Francisco Bay Guardian and the author of a 2007 investigation into the murder of journalist Brad Will in Oaxaca, Mexico, has died at the age of 72.

Bay Guardian executive editor Tim Redmond writes that Ross had been diagnosed with terminal liver cancer.

Ross' investigative piece — "Who Killed Brad Will?" — was commissioned by AAN as part of a story-sharing project and ran in twenty-four member papers in August 2007. 

More from Redmond:

He was one of the single most talented writers I've ever met — and a reporter willing to go anywhere for a story. He was also an absolute pain in the ass to work with. Every John Ross story I ever edited was a nightmare. He hated editors, almost as a matter of religion; every single word was sacred, and anytime I tried to mess with what he'd created he'd threaten to quit. "Take my name off the masthead; I'm never working for you again" was almost a mantra with us. It got to the point where I had to say: No, John. You can't quit. You're part of this operation forever, like it or not. And he always came around.