The Argentine Ambassador to the D.R., Teresa Meccia de Palma, appeared together with her husband Luis Palma on a local television program to answer questions concerning the alleged involvement of their son in the murder of 12-year-old Jose Rafael Llenas Aybar. Mrs. Meccia de Palma told the producer of “Aeromundo” that her son indeed left the D.R. on 2 May, one day before the brutal murder, as has been claimed throughout the continuing questioning of the two men who have confessed to the murder, and other people by Judge Alexis Henríquez Núñez.
They claim that he was taken to Argentina, via Miami, on that day in order to receive dental care after being involved in a fight with other young men in a discotheque in La Romana. Despite the comments made by the Ambassador, Mr. Palma was questioned by Judge Henríquez Nuñez on Monday, 15 July, at the Palace of Justice in Ciudad Nueva.
Upon leaving the judge’s chambers, Mr. Palma told reporters that he was only “collaborating” with the investigation. Judge Henríquez Nuñez, however, said that “in the course of our investigations, Luis Palma and Martin Palma Meccia (Mr. Palma and Mrs. Meccia de Palma’s son) have been directly implicated.”
The judge, together with the Dominican Foreign Minister Caonabo Javier Castillo and the Attorney General of the National District Julio Cesar Castanos Guzman, have asked President Joaquin Balaguer to lift the diplomatic immunity enjoyed by the Palma-Meccia family.
Following rumors that Mrs. Meccia de Palma had been transferred to Honduras by the Argentine Foreign Ministry, Mr. Javier Castillo denied that the Dominican Foreign Ministry had received any such notice from the Argentine authorities.
Judge Henríquez Nuñez has continued the questioning of those who could have pertinent information related to the case. In addition to Mr. Palma, the mother of Mario Jose Redondo Llenas, Nora Llenas, spent two hours in the judge’s chambers. As usual, no details of the interview were revealed.