All documents relating to the investigation into the possible involvement of the son of the Argentine Ambassador to the D.R. in the murder of 12-year-old Jose Rafael Llenas Aybar are in the possession of President Joaquin Balaguer. He is expected to make a decision as to whether he will formally ask the Argentine government to lift diplomatic immunity and cooperate with the Dominican justice system.
Martin Luis Palma Meccia, the son of Ambassador Teresa Meccia de Palma, is alleged to have been implicated in the murder of young Jose Rafael, which occurred on 3 May. It has been revealed that one of the confessed killers, Mario Jose Redondo Llenas has said, during questioning, that Mr. Palma Meccia might have been involved in the planning of the kidnapping of the boy, which according to the confessed killers was the original motive, the murder only taking place after the plan failed.
There is also, it is said, evidence that Mr. Palma Meccia had masterminded a kidnapping plan involving a young woman which was never carried out. Mrs. Meccia de Palma, whose son was apparently a close friend of Mr. Redondo Llenas, visited President Balaguer at the National Palace on Friday, 5 July, but no details of the visit were given to the news media.
During the investigation into the murder, she has also met with the Dominican Foreign Minister Caonabo Javier Castillo, and in May before his departure from the D.R, her husband met with the then Attorney General of the National District, Zoila Martinez de Medina. Due to the questions that have arisen about the exact date when Mr. Palma Meccia left the D.R. (his family claims it was on 2 May, one day before the murder), his involvement in the crime could be greater than originally thought.
The case has caught the attention of the Argentine and Honduran news media, members of which are now in the D.R. covering the story.