Mildred Campuzano was hugging two family members on the morning of this Sunday the 14th. She went to the Criminalistics Laboratory to recognize her 56-year-old brother John, who was held in the F2 Transit area of the Litoral Penitentiary and died during the massacre. .
He was in custody after being implicated in alleged financial crimes. In outrage, Mildred recounted that her brother had been wrongly blamed and that in the coming weeks she hoped to avail herself of further measures, such as house arrest, until the process was finalized.
He indicated that the hearing had been scheduled for September 30, but was postponed. “If the judges (the process) had not lengthened so much, he would be out,” he commented.
Gerónimo Cruz Maldonado arrived at 10:00 on Saturday outside the morgue. He asked for information about his sister Helen Maldonado, 29, who was being held in Ward 2.
He narrated that he saw his name on a list and went to the Penitentiary. “Last night (Friday) we talked, he called us and said that everything was fine.” said. Later, as they loaned her the phone to contact her relatives, they no longer received any more answers.
Helen had been arrested for drug possession three months ago. He still did not have a final judgment.
As of 1:00 p.m., his body had not been identified. At the morgue, they told their relatives that they had to wait until they recognized the twenty charred bodies.
Some relatives of the inmates spent the night on Saturday night outside this unit. Others arrived early yesterday.
Before 08:00, relatives of the murdered inmates began to enter to recognize their bodies.
Police officers shouted the last names of the inmates and their relatives entered the sentry box to observe photos. As they exited the cubicle, some gave heartbreaking screams, others were crying, and had to be carried by Ministry of Health personnel to lead them to another area inside.
In the parking area, tents and chairs were erected for the attention of relatives. However, dozens of them waited outside the morgue.
At 11:00 the first vehicles with coffins began to enter Criminalistics.
Relatives of inmates murdered in the Litoral Penitentiary begin to identify the bodies in Criminalistics
Two hours later, Marco Ortiz, director of Scientific Technical Investigation of the Police, clarified that 61 bodies had entered the forensic center on Saturday from the Litoral Penitentiary, and not 68, as the Prosecutor’s Office had announced, which was the official number deaths managed by the central government.
Of those killed, 41 had already been identified through fingerprint investigation. “We are certain that they are the people we were able to identify by comparing the fingerprints taken from the body and compared in the databases that the Police and the (Civil) Registry have,” said Ortiz.
As of 5:00 p.m., 15 bodies had been removed by their relatives. (I)
Mario Twitchell is an accomplished author and journalist, known for his insightful and thought-provoking writing on a wide range of topics including general and opinion. He currently works as a writer at 247 news agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the industry.
