Any murder is tragic for the family; murders on the North Coast are particularly traumatic for several reasons:
1) The hostile attitude of the police. I will never forget sitting in the Puerto Plata police headquarters days after my uncle Thomas Philipp's murder. I thought I would be arrested if I said a word.
2) The inability of the police to arrest the right person, especially if the murder was officially sanctioned. Silent money is a powerful force on the North Coast.
3) The need to bury the person quickly, and rush the autopsy.
4) The vulnerability of the coroner to outside pressure.
5) The vulnerability of any property owned by the deceased to crooked lawyers, former employees and squatters.
Owning property, especially ranches and shoreline buildings, is dangerous. Such property is especially attractive to organized crime.
1) The hostile attitude of the police. I will never forget sitting in the Puerto Plata police headquarters days after my uncle Thomas Philipp's murder. I thought I would be arrested if I said a word.
2) The inability of the police to arrest the right person, especially if the murder was officially sanctioned. Silent money is a powerful force on the North Coast.
3) The need to bury the person quickly, and rush the autopsy.
4) The vulnerability of the coroner to outside pressure.
5) The vulnerability of any property owned by the deceased to crooked lawyers, former employees and squatters.
Owning property, especially ranches and shoreline buildings, is dangerous. Such property is especially attractive to organized crime.