Justice for the Piques
THIS is in response to Pachico A. Seares’s column’s take on the Bella Ruby Santos trial, dated Oct. 17, 2014. Firstly, it has been a long time since this case broke into the local headlines. Some of my statements below need to be verified.
Somehow, many have seemed to have forgotten that a group of guys saw a vehicle dumping a sack over the location where the body of Ella Joy Pique was found-- if I recall correctly. It closely matched the description of Santos’s SUV, almost down to the last digit on the license plate. In my opinion, this was the smoking gun. In fact, I do recall that some alteration of the said digit was apparently done on the plate. Isn’t this true?
How can the judge just casually disregard this compelling piece of evidence, which corroborates the child’s testimony? (Unfortunately, the vehicle was not impounded throughout the trial and I believe that it was eventually sold.)
How about the character of this British fellow? Weren’t his searches on the Internet indicative of the type of person who would indeed hurt our young? What ever happened to the coordination and determination of his [discreet] activities with British authorities?
Taken all together, this case should have been airtight!
Somehow, we don’t seem to be interested in proving guilt beyond the doubt. Losing interest in such a pivotal case apparently affected the general public. Consequently, the lengthy passage of time--clearly the fault of the courts--desensitized us to the plight of the Pique family, in particular, and to our children’s welfare, in general. Justice delayed is justice denied? Will the poor continue to be victims of injustice? We are all to blame for this.
To redeem ourselves, can our prosecutors still find a way to have this case appealed? Our fate as a people who care for our children is in jeopardy if we do not help the Piques find justice they richly deserve. Those who willingly or carelessly mishandled this case (deliberately?) should also be condemned with the killers for Ella Joy’s untimely and cruel death. --Name withheld upon request