'Manu Vaquita' Linked To Trial For Murder Of Aristóteles Sandoval And Cover-Up

"Ivan" for Borderland Beat 

They dictate informal preventive detention for one year

Elizabeth Ibal | El Occidental 

The businessman José Manuel S. known as "Manu Vaquita" was linked to a trial for qualified homicide with the aggravating circumstance of treachery and advantage, to the detriment of the former governor of Jalisco, Jorge Aristóteles Sandoval Díaz. During the hearing, he apologized to Lorena Jassibe Arriaga, widow of Sandoval Díaz.

After the hearing, which began at 11:15 a.m. in Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Judge Luis Ignacio Ceja Arias, linked the businessman, who owned the Distrito 5 bar, where the former governor was assassinated. The judge ordered him to be in preventive detention for one year and set a period of 6 months for the closure of the complementary investigation for qualified homicide. While for the crime of cover-up, he was sentenced to one year of justified preventive detention.

When making his statement for the first time, "Manu Vaquita" assured that he was not related to the murder of the former governor of Guadalajara, Jorge Aristóteles Sandoval Díaz, according to journalist Caro Gómez Aguiñaga, who was present at the hearing.

The defendant declared that at 8:00 p.m. on December 17, 2020, he went to a work appointment at the Copa bar, located in downtown Puerto Vallarta, however, at 1:20 a.m. on December 18 of the same year Brisa, the manager of the District 5 bar, told him that there had been shots, so he immediately went to the bar, arriving in 5 minutes.

Upon her arrival, she saw a wounded man (who was an escort for Sandoval Díaz), who asked her for help: "Moreno, I know you from Icon, help me." After that request, with the help of a security guard, he transferred him to the Joya Hospital. He later returned to the place of the attack, according to the journalist.

"Manu", as he is known among his friends, recognized the serious mistake of asking his employees to clean the place: "I was afraid of a closure, I didn't know what was happening," according to Gómez Aguiñaga. He also assured that the entry of people was not his function, he was not present at the time that the murderers of Sandoval Díaz entered. He also explained that there was no clothing protocol to enter.

Before the hearing went into recess, José Manuel S. tearfully apologized to Lorena Jassibe and mentioned that if he had had the opportunity to transfer Aristotle, he would have done so.

After hearing the arguments of both the Prosecutor's Office and the defendant's defense, the Judge considered that the evidence provided by the agency was suitable and sufficient, so the defendant was initiated.

José Manuel S. is accused of having authorized and ordered various actions inside the place where Aristotle was murdered, which facilitated the actions of the perpetrators of the events and the alteration of the crime scene.

@CarolinaGomezA

"Manu Vaquita" was arrested on April 9 in the country's capital in collaboration with the Mexico City Attorney General's Office and with the support of the Jalisco Security Secretariat as well as the Navy Secretariat for custody. and transfer to Puerto Vallarta in the state of Jalisco.  There are still two pending orders to be fulfilled, against a man and a woman, who are the material authors of the murder of the former governor of Jalisco from the period 2013-2018.

Attorney General announces that the hearing has not concluded

The Attorney General of the State of Jalisco, Luis Joaquín Méndez Ruiz, said in a message broadcast on the social networks of the Jalisco Prosecutor's Office, that the hearing has not concluded.

"I tell you that said hearing has not yet ended, the crime of concealment remains to be resolved. Once we have more details and the result of said hearing, they will be informed," he commented. In the case of the former president, there are still two pending orders to be fulfilled, against a man and a woman, who are the material authors of the homicide.

El Occidental