Investigators suspect there could have been a mastermind behind the fire that was started on the Metro Santo Domingo on Monday morning, 27 October 2014, judicial and security authorities said yesterday in a press conference.
The man suspected of starting the fire is 21-year old Frank Kelin Holguin Medina. According to reports, he was carrying inflammable material in his backpack. Some 35 people were injured, two with serious burns.
As reported at a press conference yesterday, Wednesday 29 October 2014, when questioned by Attorney General Francisco Dominguez Brito and National District prosecutor Yeni Berenice Reynoso, Holguin admitted that he set the metro car on fire before escaping uninjured.
Holguin could face 30-40 years in jail, as he will be tried for violation of the Law against Terrorism 267-08. Holguin, who was identified in the metro security videos, is being held at the jail on the fourth floor of the Palacio de Justicia in Ciudad Nueva.
Attorney General Francisco Dominguez Brito, Minister of Defense Lieutenant General William Munoz Delgado, Police chief Major General Manuel Castro Castillo, District Attorney for the National District Yeni Berenice Reynoso, and the chief of the Specialized Corps for Metro Security, General Bonarges Batista attended the press conference.
“The investigations suggest there may have been a mastermind, so they are digging deeper in order to identify the person or persons responsible, with a view to arresting them and submitting them to justice,” states an executive report read by Police spokesman Jacobo Mateo Moquete.
Dominguez Brito said that regardless of motivation, the incident is being treated as a terrorist attack.
According to the authorities, Holguin arrived at the Manuel de Jesus Galvan station and once inside the metro car he set fire to his black backpack. The National Institute of Forensic Sciences (INACIF) certified it contained gasoline.
Diario Libre investigated Holguin’s background and found that he works as a barber in the Gualey slum where he lives. He charges RD$50 for a haircut. He is the son of Don Nicolas Holguin, and one of seven children. His father makes a living selling bread and his mother is a housekeeper. Some neighbors commented that Holguin should be psychologically tested. They said that mental problems affected some of the family members, including a 12-year old sister.
Higher Education Minister Ligia Amada Melo said, “First we have to assess the man’s mental condition, we would have to see if he is sane because he committed an act of this kind, with such a high risk, even to himself who was in danger,” as reported in Diario Libre. She said that if he has confessed, then what should be done immediately is to establish his mental state.
Holguin lives in a house under the Francisco del Rosario Sanchez Bridge that has been marked for demolition by the Metro Office (OPRET).
Diario Libre reports that while Holguin has been enrolled in the state UASD University for the past two semesters, he has yet to complete one of the preparatory courses. In his first semester he selected three subjects, but dropped out. He registered again for the present fall semester, selecting six subjects but there are no grades in his record. When he turned himself in to the authorities, Holguin told the press that he was a law student at the UASD.
In a further twist in the case, El Dia speculates about a possible connection between warring drug traffickers and the attack on the Metro. The Gualey area where Holguin lives is part of the territory that the authorities say that fugitive drug trafficker Pascual Cordero Martinez controls. Adding to the speculation is the fact that lawyer Raul Hamburgo Mena represented the impoverished Holguin during his questioning in the Palacio de Justicia. Hamburgo Mena is known for being legal counsel in several drug trafficking cases in the past, such as that of the parents of Junior Javier Minaya German (Gilbert), described as one of the leading drug traffickers in the Herrera area and who was murdered by police agents.
As reported in El Dia, when reporters asked Hamburgo Mena who was paying for his services to defend Holguin, he just replied “a friend.”
El Dia reported that the police investigations into the Metro case include establishing whether drug traffickers were behind the incident and whether the two arrest warrants for Pascual Cabrera Ruiz and Pascual Cordero Martinez had any connection with the recent attacks on the Najayo and Victoria jails and the Metro.
Hilos del narcotráfico entrelazan asaltos a Najayo y ataque al Metro
http://www.diariolibre.com/noticias/2014/10/30/i860341_sospechoso-del-metro-vive-debajo-del-puente.html
http://www.diariolibre.com/noticias/2014/10/30/i860191_est-activo-uasd-pero-estudia-derecho.html