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Law and Order | 22 July, 2006 [ 17:16 ]

Trial videotapes play major role in investigating judge Saturno's assassination

The videotape recordings from the trial hearings at the Lurigancho penitentiary are a key piece in the murder investigation of Peruvian judge Hernán Saturno Vergara, according to police sources involved in the case.

The stationary cameras recorded last year's court sessions of the trial against 34 members of the Tijuana drug-trafficking cartel. A dedicated group of detectives reviews all tapes from judicial hearings in which Saturno participated hoping to find any clues, conducts, suspicious moves or threats by the defendants. Every person present in the courtroom will be checked out.

Additionally the investigation includes the verification of all visits registered for the drug dealers since the beginning of their imprisonment at Lurigancho and Canto Grande.
Especially the visits of ringleader Miguel Morales during the last months receive special attention. Morales was set free in July 6, 2005, after judge Freddy de la Cruz Huamán granted the writ of habeas corpus which was widely considered as a very unusual decision. However, the judge's ruling was revoked shortly after his release, causing an angered Morales to swear revenge on Peru's justice system. At least that is one of the police' assumptions.

Morales, - who is married to a daughter of Tito Lopez Paredes, a boss of the Nortenos drug gang and one of Peru's most notorious narco-traffickers sitting behind bars -, enjoyed several days in a lax "golden cell" in Santa Anita.

The lead prosecutor in the Saturno case Pedro Chávez noticed that the judge's assassination “widely favors delinquents who now see greater chances of regaining their freedom and those who have problems with us and the judicial system. If it is confirmed that they are behind this, the outlook is worrisome”, he warned.

Tapings from video cameras installed on the outside of the penitentiary are also reviewed to check if the judge was followed or observed. “It is possible to identify and gather details about the people who entered and left the hearings”, the police source informed.
A spokesperson for the Interior Ministry confirmed that the system of computerized video is used to monitor the traffic inside and outside of the Lurigancho penitentiary and that the tapes are a valuable source of information for this case.

A special task force, assembled with members of the Homicide Division, State Security, Intelligence and the National Anti-drug Direction, has the mission of solving this case. All in all, 12 detectives are working the case and 62 officers are patiently reviewing the tapes, 24 hours a day.

Meanwhile, the statements of collaborating witnesses have helped in identifying the assassins. One is the driver of the black motorcycle used in the crime last Wednesday night. He was described as corpulent, dark-skinned, straight hair, of chinese descent, between 1.67 and 1.72 meters tall (5'5 - 5'7 feet).

Employees of the "Bunker" restaurant where the atrocious murder was committed, revealed that the delinquents fled against traffic, from Block 3 of Ave. Roosevelt in the direction of Ave. Iquitos. They were not headed towards the Paseo de los Héroes Navales where police have security cameras installed.

“There is no doubt that they had everything studied, the crime was very well planned”, maintained one of the officials in charge of the search. “The assassins came, killed and went away. It is very similar to the methods of narco-traffickers from the Eighties”, he described.

The director of the National Police, General Luis Montoya, informed that he ordered an investigation of Sergeant Ricardo Dulanto Palsa, who was in charge of bodyguarding Saturno Vergara the day of his murder. The judge's widow requested his interrogation.

After an official ceremony was held in honor, the body of Saturno Vergara was laid to rest yesterday in the cemetery Parque del Recuerdo in Lurín.



(read also our previous related article)

tags : Peru law justice assassination drugtrafficking crime Lima Bunker judge Saturno Tijuana cartel investigation

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