The murder of a 9-year old girl has made headlines in the Dominican Republic. Little Liz Maria Sánchez who lived with her mother, grandmother and siblings in Isabelita Segundo in Santo Domingo East was reported missing on Sunday. 40-year old Starlin Francisco Santos, known as “The Baker” would confess he raped the child and then killed her. He attempted to get away with the crime by stuffing her body into a sack and throwing it into the Caribbean Sea.
Neighbors interviewed by the press said that the child had said on several occasions that “El Panadero” had groped her. “I live next door to her, and I know she told her mother that he touched her in her parts, but her mother didn’t listen to her,” said a neighbor of the child.
According to neighbors, the killer had gained the trust of the family in the past two months. “He would come here and even eat. He was very friendly with the girl’s father and was very well behaved at least with the family,” exclaimed Liz Maria’s grandmother, identified as Lidia.
Neighbors suggested to members of the National Council for Children and Adolescents (Conani) that visited the home after the disappearance report that Conani should take custody of the other two children from the girl’s mother.Liz María reportedly disappeared last Sunday morning at around 8 a.m., when she was allegedly looking for a mobile phone that t neighbour had given her.
A video surveillance camera captured the moment when Liz María entered the alley where her executioner, “El Panadero”, resides. Another video shows the defendant leaving his residence with a large bag in his hands, which allegedly contained the body of the minor.
“El Panadero” admitted to the National Police that he killed nine-year-old Liz María, who he strangled and then proceeded to place her inside a sack with stones that he later threw into the Caribbean Sea, at the height of kilometer 14 and a half of the Las Américas highway.
He said he committed the crime because he was afraid that the minor would tell on him. He said he lured the child promising to buy her a cell phone in exchange for her allowing him to touch her.
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Listin Diario
Diario Libre
Diario Libre
19 August 2020