The Fourth Collegiate Court of Santiago handed down an exemplary sentence this Thursday, sentencing Dominican Navy Corporal V\u00edctor Manuel Salda\u00f1a Hern\u00e1ndez to 30 years in prison. The soldier was found guilty of the murder of the renowned physician Enrique Antonio Espinal Castillo, a case that shocked Dominican society following the discovery of the body in August 2024.<\/p>\n\n
The judicial process, which lasted for nearly two years, concluded after the presentation of compelling evidence by the Public Prosecutor’s Office and the victim’s family’s defense. According to lawyer R\u00f3mulo S\u00e1nchez Cabrera, the evidentiary elements demonstrated that Salda\u00f1a Hern\u00e1ndez ended the doctor’s life with a blunt blow to the head, causing his death instantly.<\/p>\n\n
The investigation revealed a chilling sequence of events. After committing the homicide in Santiago, the convicted individual used the Hyundai Tucson SUV owned by the victim to transport the body to the province of San Crist\u00f3bal. The body was located on August 5, 2024, in a vacant lot known as La Costa de Rafelito, in Sabana Grande de Palenque, where it had been abandoned inside a mattress, secured with wires.<\/p>\n\n\n
The evidence made it possible to establish that, after the murder, the accused attempted to dispose of the victim’s vehicle to obtain financial gain, taking it to a mechanic shop to have it repaired and proceed with its sale.<\/p>R\u00f3mulo S\u00e1nchez Cabrera, family lawyer<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n
Economic motivations and judgment<\/h3>\n\n
In addition to the vehicle, the crime was motivated by the theft of RD$300,000 in cash. According to the plaintiff, this money had been given to the doctor by his sister on the same night of the incident. The combination of these factors\u2014the homicide, the robbery, and the attempted sale of the vehicle\u2014consolidated the accusation under articles 295, 296, 297, and 302 of the Dominican Penal Code.<\/p>\n\n\n
- Maximum sentence: 30 years in prison for V\u00edctor Manuel Salda\u00f1a Hern\u00e1ndez.<\/li>
- Compensation: The court ordered the payment of RD$4 million to the doctor’s mother.<\/li>
- Compliance: The convicted person must serve his sentence in a penitentiary center.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n
With this first-instance ruling, a painful chapter closes for the loved ones of Dr. Espinal Castillo, who for months maintained a firm struggle demanding justice before the courts of Santiago.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Justice for Dr. Enrique Espinal: Perpetrator of his murder sentenced to 30 years The Fourth Collegiate Court of Santiago handed down an exemplary sentence this Thursday, sentencing Dominican Navy Corporal V\u00edctor Manuel Salda\u00f1a Hern\u00e1ndez to 30 years in prison. The soldier was found guilty of the murder of the renowned physician Enrique Antonio Espinal Castillo, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":157987,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12809],"tags":[4182,5842,2553,5586],"class_list":{"0":"post-157984","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-national","8":"tag-doctor","9":"tag-murder","10":"tag-santiago","11":"tag-sentence"},"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157984","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=157984"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157984\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/157987"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=157984"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=157984"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=157984"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}