Suspect blames Brazilian student for own death in Nicaragua
Pernambuco-born medical student Raynéia Gabrielle Lima, murdered in Nicaragua on July 23, was blamed for her own death, claimed confessed murderer Pierson Guitierrez Solis, the former military agent heard behind closed doors by the authorities. The narrative was described as far-fetched and fanciful by Nicaraguan newspaper La Prensa.
“The prosecution provided an unbelievable statement in which it blames the young woman for having caused her own death while driving ‘recklessly and suspiciously,’” the story published by La Prensa reads.
The daily adds it was granted access to a secret hearing held on August 1, in which Lima is reported to have driven her car as if lost. She stepped on the brake, then took off abruptly. It remains unknown whether a representative from Brazil’s Foreign Minister attended the session.
According to the onetime military agent, she was driving at high speed. The newspaper says the Brazilian woman was looking for her fiancé Harnet Nathan Lara Moraga.
Ex-agent Pierson Guitierrez Solis, 42, was coming back from Ciudad Sandino, in Managua, at 10 pm, after having rented a place for holding Taekwondo classes.
Pierson decided to visit his friends, two guards on duty at a guard house 25 meters away from San Ángel, a residential area where Lima arrived at 10:50 pm. Seeing how she was driving, the three sensed their lives were in danger. One of them fired a shot upwards to try to catch her attention.
The former agent fetched a Colt 5.56 rifle, stationed himself behind a lamp post, and fired when the car was in front of him.
Injured, Lima drove on for another 104 meters, opened the door and sat down on the floor. Her fiancé appeared shortly afterwards, and took her to the Military Hospital, where she died during a medical procedure.
A date is yet to be fixed for the reading of the sentence. The prosecution asked for 15 years for homicide and another year for possession; the defense, ten years plus one. If he is convicted of murder, the sentence would go from 20 to 30 years.
The Organization of American States (OAS), in Washington, assembled a special commission to offer solutions to the crisis facing Nicaragua. Brazil, the US, Costa Rica, and Chile have expressed willingness to participate. Nicaragua dismissed the proposals. Three countries—Bolivia, Venezuela, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines—voted to support Nicaragua’s decision.
Funeral
The student’s dead body was buried Friday (3) at around 11 am at the Morada da Paz cemetery outside Recife, state capital of Penambuco, Northeast Brazil.
Lima was buried dressed in the white coat of the National Police Hospital of Managua, where she used to work, and with the diploma from the American University of Managua (UAM), where she used to study, dated July 24.
*Pedro Peduzzi, Brasília-based reporter with Agência Brasil, and Rodrigo Mesquita, from the Rádio Universitária do Recife, contributed to this article.
