Prosecutor Requests Trial For Javier Martin In The Murder of Don North
By DON WINNER for Panama-Guide.com - The Third Superior Prosecutor of the First Judicial Circuit of Panama, Sofanor Espinosa, has asked the Magistrates of the Second Superior Tribunal in Panama City to bring Javier Martin to trial. In his "prosecutor's opinion" Number 47 of 2012, Espinosa asked the judges to haul Javier Martin before the bench to be tried for the murder of Don North. In addition to the primary charge of murder, Javier Martin is also facing trial for the crimes of theft, the illegal possession and commercialization of prohibited weapons, and the illegal use of a credit card belonging to Don North. You might recall Javier Martin is the Spaniard charged with the murders of the American Don North, who he allegedly killed in the San Blas islands in the Guna Yala in January 2011, and the Frenchman Jean Pierre Bouhard, in the area of Portobelo in February 2011. (more) The prosecutor's opinion is dated 29 February 2012. Javier Martin was arrested in Santa Fe in the province of the Darien on Valentine's day last year - Monday, 14 February 2011 - so the prosecutor had run out of time - one year after Javier Martin's arrest - and was forced by the time restraints placed upon him by the law to issue this opinion at that time. Today the Magistrates of the Second Superior Tribunal are drafting their response, which has not yet been issued.
The judges have three options. They might simply accept the case as it is and call Javier Martin to trial. If that's their decision, then they will simply set a date for a preliminary hearing. The second option is, upon reviewing the case and the evidence contained in the case file prepared by the prosecutor, the Magistrates can return the file to the prosecutor and order him to conduct and "expansion" or an "amplification." The judges tend to do this if there's something blatantly missing from the evidence. Say, for example, that maybe the prosecutor might have failed to obtain a sworn statement from a key witness, and the judges think that statement might end up being critical in the case. They can send the file back and order the expansion or amplification, and this gives the prosecutor six more months to work on developing evidence, or whatever. The third option - highly unlikely in this case - is that the judges of the Second Superior Tribunal can decide to simply dismiss the case and all charges. The evidence against Javier Martin is so overwhelming that the chances of this happening are practically nil.
Related Articles: If you read these articles in order, you can see how this story developed as it was breaking.
- American Citizen Missing in Panama - Don North on the sailboat "Windancer" - 10 February 2011 - I was first alerted to the disappearance of Don North on this day, Thursday, 10 February 2011, from Glenn and Eddie Tuttle.
- Photos of Don North's Boat - "Windancer" - 10 February 2011
- New Goal - Find Javier Martin on the "Levante" - 10 February 2011 - On that very same day it became apparent that Javier Martin was probably responsible for the disappearances of both Don North and Jean Pierre Bouhard.
- Manhunt - Find Spanish Citizen Javier Bermejo Martin - Suspected In Two Murders in Panama - 11 February 2011 - Don North's nephew Ezra North flew in to Panama City on Friday, 11 February, and I took him to the DIJ Homicide investigators to file a formal complaint. That's what kicked off the investigation and "woke the system up."
- International Law Enforcement Authorities Hunting For Serial Killer Javier Martin - 13 February 2011
- Photos Of Suspected Serial Killer Javier Martin (Clearing House - Collection) - 13 February 2011
- Spaniard Denounced in Disappearance of US Citizen - 14 February 2011 - Ezra North and I held and "impromptu" press conference on the steps of the DIJ in Panama City on Monday morning, 14 February 2011. Representatives from all of the local Spanish language Panamanian news media outlets were there. It was covered by Magda Maxwell of channel 2 TVN, who ran a piece on the 12:00 noon local news. It was seen by the girl managing the hostel in Santa Fe in the Darien where Javier Martin was hiding, and preparing to escape from Panama. We didn't know it at the time, but he was arrested later that day, because she saw him, recognized him on the news, and reported it to the police - a direct almost immediate link from press conference to the arrest of the suspect.
- Spaniard Being Investigated For Murders - 14 February 2011 - This is the TVN news report that resulted in the arrest of Javier Martin. If you click on the "Source" link at the end, you can watch the TVN news video they played that day, which was seen in the hostel in the Darien. He was spotted, recognized, reported, and arrested. So, it was a total of four days from when I was first notified (Thursday) to the arrest of the primary suspect (Monday.) Woof.
- An Update on the Hunt For Accused Serial Killer Javier Martin - 14 February 2011
- Serial Killer Javier Martin Captured in Santa Fe, Darien - 15 February 2011
- Tons Of New Evidence Uncovered Against Serial Killer Javier Martin - 17 February 2011
- There Are Three Detainees In Case of Javier Martin - 21 February 2011
- Spaniard implicated in disappearances in the Caribbean - 21 February 2011
- Serial Killer Javier Martin Clean Out Victim's Bank Accounts - 21 February 2011
- Scuba Divers in Portobelo Look For Evidence in Murder of Jean Pierre Bouhard (Video) - 21 February 2011
- Panama Port Capitan Creates Fake Official Government Documents For Serial Killer - 23 February 2011
- DNA Analysis Confirms Presence of Don North's Blood on the Windancer - 25 February 2011
- Panama Maritime Authority Initiates Internal Investigation Against Ismael Sagel Lopez - 25 February 2011
- Why Kill Two Guys, For Two Boats? - 26 February 2011
- Javier Martin - Spending Blood Money After Murders in Panama - 27 February 2011
- Official Investigation Requested of AMP Official - 28 February 2011
- An Update On The Ismael Sagel Lopez Story - 28 February 2011
- More Feedback From The Boaters About The Ismael Sagel Lopez Thing - 1 March 2011
- Anchor Found in 60' of Water in Portobelo (Murder of Jean Pierre Bouhard) - 7 March 2011
- Javier Martin Formally Charged in Don North Murder Case - 25 March 2011
- A Backpacker's Recommendation To Avoid Serial Killer Javier Martin And His Boat The Twyla - 13 April 2011
- Javier Martin And Stolen Sailboats In The Caribbean - 13 June 2011
- More On The "Spanish Armada" Of The Caribbean ... - 15 June 2011
- CBS 48 Hours Mystery "The Dark Side of Paradise" Can Be Seen Online - 5 February 2012
That's Not All Of Them, But It's More Than Enough: Now the situation will evolve further to it's next logical step - the trial of Javier Martin for the murder of Don North and the other crimes for which he has been charged. The justice system in Panama is painfully slow, and it takes a very long time, but in cases like this they tend to get it right. The prosecutor is still working on the case of Jean Pierre Bouhard, and it has not yet been sent to the judges. Soon, I'm told. In the meantime, Javier Martin isn't going anywhere.
Copyright 2012 by Don Winner for Panama-Guide.com. Go ahead and use whatever you like as long as you credit the source. Salud.
