Six men charged in connection with 2011 murder of a New Jersey banking executive in Puerto Rico
Investigators say the defendants allegedly killed Maurice Spagnoletti because he canceled an inflated contract to provide janitorial services to Doral Bank.
Developments in a long unsolved murder case have given a New Jersey widow new hope that justice will finally be served.
On June 15, 2011, Maurice Spagnoletti was shot to death while driving on a busy highway in San Juan, Puerto Rico. He and his wife Marisa, along with their young daughter Lucy, had recently moved there from New Jersey.
57 year-old Maurice was a newly hired executive at Doral Bank in San Juan. He had been brought in to clean up the books at the troubled financial institution, and had started to question the bank’s accounting practices.
For years, the crime remained unsolved.
Marisa returned to New Jersey, and turned her grief into action by setting up a non-profit foundation in her husband’s name. The Maurice J. Spagnoletti Foundation supports local charities with a focus on helping children and crime victims. She also opened a non-profit boutique called Lucy’s Gift in Florham Park, New Jersey that sells handbags, jewelry and gifts. All the proceeds benefit charity.
“If you look around the boutique, everything is centered on our mission, which is to end all violence in this amazing country, and to help so many, especially children and victims of crime in need,” Spagnoletti told Fox News.
Finally last December, over seven years after Maurice Spagnoletti’s killing, six men were charged in connection with the case. Four face murder charges. They have been identified as Alex Burgos-Amaro, Luis Carmona-Bernacet, Rolando Rivera-Solis, and Yadiel Serrano-Canales.
Authorities say the defendants are part of a violent gang of suspected drug traffickers. They believe the men allegedly killed Spagnoletti because he canceled an inflated contract to provide janitorial services to Doral Bank.
“The company was being used for a money laundering vehicle,” U.S. Attorney Rosa Emilia Rodriguez told the Associated Press. “Spagnoletti became an encumbrance. So they had him killed.”
Federal authorities are now deciding whether to pursue the death penalty against the men charged in the case. Meanwhile, the U.S. Attorney’s Office says there may be other suspects involved, and the investigation is continuing.
For years, Marisa Spagnoletti kept pushing for answers in her husband’s murder. She says she’s grateful that federal and local authorities kept investigating, and ultimately made arrests.
“I deal specifically with the FBI and those three letters to me mean heroes,” Spagnoletti said. “They have been relentless in not only pursuing justice for Lucy and I but for all crime victims.”
Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy Henwood says investigators spent years gathering evidence and interviewing witnesses to build the strongest case they could. He credits Marisa Spagnoletti for her perseverance, and for becoming an outspoken advocate for victims.
“This case was it was a difficult one to investigate and I am proud that that our office and the FBI and the police in Puerto Rico stuck with it,” Henwood said. “And a lot of that has to do with her. She's someone that is really championing victims’ rights and her staying with it encouraged us.”
“Who is the voice for every American who is a victim of violence, who loses their life?” Spagnoletti said. “I think at some point as a country, as a community, as a state, we have to band together and say together we will make a positive impact, and this is our mission in memory of my beloved husband. If we don’t have faith and hope and resiliency, we’re basically giving up. And I never give up.”
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