MURDER IN ECUADOR

This is rather a serious blog. You may have noticed in the the papers back in March a report of the disappearance of a woman from Manchester ? Mrs Jennifer Pope a 50yr old Nurse from Manchester disappeared whilst on a 6mth backpacking trip round South America. Her last known whereabouts was an hotel in Banos ( a large town in central Ecuador) on the 9th of Jan last year. She has not been seen since. The alarm was not raised immediately as her family was not sure what could have happened, however when her bank statement arrived it showed regular withdrawals of $20, $30 ,$50 dollars every few days, for the previous 4 mths, after the 9th of Jan $ 400 dollars was withdrawn every day untill the account was exhausted. A total of over $2500+ over the space of a week.
Why am I drawing your attention to this ? because yesterday morning I spoke , at lenght, to both her husband Dave & her son Stefan, who are both staying in the same hotel as I am.
Once Jenny had not checked in with them for a waak they began to worry,after 2 weeks they were very concerned, & once the bank statement arrived thier worst fears seemed to be confirmed.
Dave & Stefan put thier affairs in order and arrived in Ecuador in early March. They have been here ever since.
They soon found out who the main suspect was , a 28 year old inhabitant of Banos who had a reputation for robbery & violence in the area but had not been convicted due to his connections with the police, ( he shared the spoils of his activities with them) He was also employed at the hotel, as a night porter, where Jenny was staying.
Dave explained how corrupt the police are here, operating hand in glove with criminals in thier area. The murder of Jenny Pope would have been ignored & swept under the carpet by the local police if Dave & Stefan had not arrived,determined to ensure that proper procedures were observed & a professional investigation was undertaken.
There was circumstancial evidence ( the "accused "disappeared very shortly after the account was emptied) and there was video evidence of the accused withdrawing money from the account, as well as other facts which pointed the finger of accusation firmly in his direction.
Dave & Stefan are in no doubt of this man´s guilt, and that he did not act alone, they believe that other members of his family are also involved. Due to police lassisitude , incompetence & corruption and also the lack of committment by the prosecuting authorities ( they operate a procurator fiscal system similar to Scotland) they feel that having one person brought to trial is as much as they can hope for.
Bribery throughout the police & prosecuting system is rife here & althought the "accused" is not a person of much financial value he does have a close relative who runs a string of bordellos along the coast & she has baan funding his defence so far, whither she has the means or the inclination to further fund his evasion of justice is unknown. Obviously the further up the system the higher the financial burden.
The trial will take place on the 28th of dec purely due to the doggedness & persistance of Dave & Stefan as left to their own devices the murder would have been ignored.
Lets hope for a guilty verdict from the three Judges who will decide the case, if a guilty verdict is announced then there is the facility for an appeal, this however should take place within a month of the trial.
There is no death penalty in Ecuador but a sentence of 16-25 yrs could be imposed on such a case as this, as there is no body.
Only Dave & Stefans relentless quest for answers & action has forced the hand of Ecuadors lamentable judicial system.
All the best on the 28th.
SS
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