San Salvador Sheraton murder
The San Salvador Sheraton murder is a triple murder at the Sheraton Hotel in El Salvador in 1981.
Investigation results
Red Toyota pickup
On December 2, 1980, four sisters of the Maryknoll Missionary Order were kidnapped, raped and murdered by members of the Sección Inteligencia of the Guardia Nacional . On December 19, 1980, the Junta Special Committee of Inquiry, to which José Napoleón Duarte was a member, reported that a red three-quarter-tonne Toyota van was seen driving away from the scene on December 2, 1980 at around 11:00 a.m., and that the burned out van of the victims had a red stain. The FBI had established that this paint residue belonged to a red Toyota from the Hotel Sheraton in San Salvador.
New Years Reception at the Sheraton
In 1980 the Sección Inteligencia of the Guardia Nacional had planned the murder of José Rodolfo Viera Lizama (* 1938), director of the Office for Agrarian Reform ( Instituto Salvadoreño de Transformación Agraria , ISTA). On the evening of January 3, 1981, Roberto D'Aubuisson Arrieta , Deputy Director of ANSESAL , and Mayor Mario Denis Moran Echeverria, Director Sección Inteligencia of Gurardia Nacional, were at a dinner party at the Sheraton Hotel. The hosts of the death squad 's New Year reception were Ricardo Sol Meza and his brother-in-law, Hans Christ. Ricardo Sol Meza was co-owner of the Sheraton, in which he had recently opened a roller-skating disco. Hans Christ is the son of a German who immigrated to El Salvador after the Second World War . Through business in the poultry industry, he was a partner of high-ranking military . The drivers of the wealthy guests stayed in the vehicles in the parking lot in front of the Sheraton and guarded them. Moran's vehicle was guarded by Gomez Gonzalez of the Guardia Nacional. Rodolfo Isidro López Sibrián , deputy commander of the Sección Inteligencia , ordered Valle Acevedo, also a member of the Guardia Nacional, to drive him to the Sheraton. López Sibrián had a 9 mm Ingram submachine gun from the Guardia Nacional armory with him. At around 10:00 p.m., Christ, Sibrián and Capitán Eduardo Ernesto Alfonso Avila met in the Sheraton's hotel restaurant.
Triple murder at the Sheraton
Viera later came to the restaurant with two companions. Viera was accompanied by Michael Peter Hammer (* 1939 in Potomac, Md), head of the department for the development of agricultural labor unions, and Mark David Pearlman (* 1945 in Seattle), legal advisor of the AIFLD . Since the restaurant was occupied for the event, they asked for something more private. An employee recommended the Las Americas salon which is spacious. Christ recognized Viera and made Avila aware of him. Someone in the group noticed that he had grown a beard and that it would be good if he were dead. When López saw Sibrián Viera, he said it was a good opportunity. to kill him. One got up from the table to watch where the group was going with Viera. López Sibrián, Avila and Christ crossed the parking lot in front of the Sheraton and got into the vehicle for Valle Acevedo. Valle Acevedo was ordered to kill the President of ISTA and his two companions. Valle Acevedo refused to carry out the murders alone. López Sibrián got out of the vehicle and crossed the parking lot to the Guardia Nacional Gomez Gonzalez, who was sitting in Mario Denis Moran Echeverria's vehicle. López Sibrián ordered him to come with him. When Gomez Gonzalez replied that there was nothing he could do without Denis Moran's consent, López Sibrián went into the hotel and immediately came out again and told Gomez Gonzalez that Denis Moran had agreed. López Sibrián and Gomez Gonzalez went to Sibrián's vehicle in which Valle Acevedo, Christ and Avila were sitting. López Sibrián ordered Valle Acevedo and Gomez Gonzalez to accompany Hans Christ to the hotel and kill the three men there. He gave Gomez Gonzalez the 9mm Ingram submachine gun while Avila gave Valle Acevedo an Uzi and a khaki t-shirt to hide the gun. Christ told them that he would identify the man. In tow from Christ, the gunmen were able to pass the security checkpoints at the Sheraton. Christ pointed to Viera, Hammer, and Pearlman. The Guardias Nacionales Valle Acevedo and Gomez Gonzalez shot Viera and his two companions. The shooters immediately left the Sheraton and escaped in Sibrián's vehicle to a funeral home, followed by Avila in his vehicle. There they returned the weapons to their previous owners and López Sibrián ordered them to go to the headquarters of the Guardia Nacional.
consequences
After the murders of Viera, Hammer and Pearlman, it became known within the Guardia Nacional that members of Group 2 ( G2 ), to which Valle Acevedo and Gomez Gonzalez belonged, had committed the murder. On February 14, 1986, Valle Acevedo and Gomez Gonzalez were sentenced to 30 years in prison. On December 19, 1987, they were released on amnesty . The case against Avila was dropped for the same reason.
Neither Sibrian, nor Moran, nor any other El Salvadoran officer was convicted of the murders at the Sheraton. Moran knew that his deputy, López Sibrián, had ordered the two Guardias Nacionales to kill. He did not inform law enforcement agencies.