One of the most horrendous and news-covered crimes of the year was the murder of high school professor Vilma Núñez de Guzmán on 20 May 1999. She was last seen when after completing her gym class on Av. Rómulo Betancourt, she boarded what she thought was a taxi car to make her way home. Her assaulted and violated body was found on 21 May 1999 in bushes near Av. Luperón. Her assailants removed RD$26,000 using her bank cards and the Police had a blurred video showing two of their faces. But the Police had few other leads until Friday. On Friday, a young woman was assaulted in similar circumstances but she was rescued by police agents who this time managed to catch her assailants. When they noticed she had been wounded at the neck with the lighter of the car used by the assailants, an unmarked Toyota Corolla station wagon, plate AE-378, the Police linked the two crimes. Núñez had a similar wound on her neck. When questioned at the National Police in the presence of six District Attorney assistants, the assailants only confessed to the crime in which they were caught in fraganti. But when the Police asked victims of similar assaults to see if they knew them, and they identified them across a one-way glass, they knew they were on to something. When presented with the evidence, the foursome confessed. Subsequent victims rendered a count of 300 assaults in the past seven months, as reported in the press. They had no single area, but combed the city seeking their next victim. Crimes were commited along Winston Churchill Ave., Máximo Gómez Ave., Las Americas Ave., Duarte Highway, Villa Mella and Naco neighborhoods, to just mention a few of the areas where they sought their victims. The Police presented the four men of the gang. The presentation made the Saturday noon news. The gang includes two active policemen, Fausto Ortega and Luis A. Meran Zabala, assigned to the Campamento Duarte (cacos negros). One of the two was a regular agent, the other served as a waiter. Another is a former sargeant, Sargeant Alexander Carmona Angomas. Carmona, member of the Police Swat team, had been dismissed from the Police and served a year in the La Victoria jail for the sale of a weapon. The fourth man is civilian Luis Benjamin Báez Morla, medium-heighted but weighing over 200 pounds, who was the driver of the vehicle. He would come in from San Cristóbal, where he lived, and pick up the others to go for sexual kicks and money. In their confession they explained that they murdered Núñez because she had a small knife with which she tried to defend herself. The Police found the knife on Báez Morla. District Attorney Francisco Domínguez said that he would request the maximum penalty of 30 years in jail for the foursome. Francisco Domínguez congratulated the Police upon the announcement. In the past, corruption within the ranks many times was kept within the ranks. "What is most positive is that the changes continue," he said. "This is a big hit against delinquency." The District Attorney’s office has just opened up offices at the Police headquarters. Police spokesman Nelson Rosario Guerrero said that Chief of the Police, Major General Pedro de Jesus Candelier is intent on ridding the National Police ranks of members that may involve themselves in delinquency. The Police has begun a purge of all members of the force. Likewise, measures to put signs on multi-fare paying taxis and have drivers post identifications have been undertaken. The National Police alerts passengers to not board passenger-seeking vehicles that do not have proper identification.
