Monte Plata.- This Monday, former mayor of Bayaguana, Nelson Osvaldo Sosa Marte, alias “Opi”, returns to the defendant’s bench to hear the sentence that the Collegiate Court of Monte Plata will dictate, in a new trial that is being followed for his
alleged participation as a sponsor and intellectual author of the murder of the councilman and colleague of the
Dominican Liberation Party (PLD), Renato De Jesús Castillo Hernández.
Nelson Sosa Marte is accused of having paid to kill Renato Castillo Hernández, because the latter had been denouncing corruption practices in the Bayaguana city council, a reason that led him to make the unfortunate decision. In an act of intolerance, to pay hitmen for the physical execution of the ill-fated councilman.
The prosecution, comprised of the Public Ministry
Public, plaintiffs, and civil actors, has concluded the presentation and incorporation of all its evidentiary material, consisting of testimonial, material, expert, documentary, and audiovisual evidence. Likewise, the defense of Nelson Sosa Marte has concluded the presentation of its testimonial evidence.
Among the evidence to be highlighted, incorporated by the Public Ministry, is the revolver identified as the murder weapon, Cocoa brand, which was recovered on the farm owned by Nelson Sosa Marte, where he has a plastic rooster spur factory called “La Princesa”.
In that place lived the employee of the former mayor and deputy director of the Municipal Police of the Bayaguana City Council, Rafael Eladio Olivo Javier, who is serving a 20-year prison sentence for his participation in the murder of councilman Renato Castillo.
Remember that on April 6, 2021, Sosa Marte was found guilty along with five others involved in the murder of councilman Renato Castillo, but in that same year, the First Chamber of the Criminal Court of Appeal of Santo Domingo acquitted the former mayor, while, through the same sentence, the conviction of the other defendants was confirmed, whose decision generated controversy and criticism alluding to the fact that it originates in influences exerted by godfathers by the former mayor of Bayaguana.
The questioned decision that discharged Nelson Sosa Marte, from the First Chamber of the Criminal Chamber of the Court of Appeals of Santo Domingo, was revoked by the Supreme Court of Justice.
Councilman Renato De Jesús Castillo Hernández was murdered on June 25, 2014, while sharing time with friends in the head municipality of Monte Plata.
Raysa Julieta Acosta, widow and mother of three children fathered with the murdered councilman, denounced that 11 years after the vile murder of her husband, Renato Castillo, justice has not been done.
“Only the perpetrators of this horrendous crime are serving sentences, while the former mayor of Bayaguana, Nelson Osvaldo Sosa Marte (Opi), who paid to have my husband killed, has mocked justice, society, my children, laughing in our faces at the hearings, before the connections and godfathers who protect him,” expressed Raysa Acosta, widow of the councilman.
Raysa Acosta called on the President of the Republic, the Attorney General Yeni Berenice Reynoso, and the President of the Supreme Court of Justice, Luis Henry Molina, so that this crime does not go unpunished.
“I, my children, and society hope that this time money and power do not end up corrupting and defeating justice,” stated the widow of the murdered councilman.
The trial continues tomorrow, Monday, at eleven in the morning (11:00 A.M.), so the widow of the late mayor shared that she maintains faith and confidence in the justice that the judges who know the new trial will sentence Nelson Osvaldo Sosa Marte to 20 years in prison, as happened in the first trial, in 2021.
It is recalled that Rafael Eladio Olivo Javier and Fredy Alberto de la Cruz were sentenced to 20 years in prison, while Marcial Cuello Soto (Prieto) and Yolkis Severino Alberto (Coqui) received sentences of 30 years, while Dauris de la Cruz (Dawri) was sentenced to 10 years for his participation in the murder of the councilor, lawyer, community leader and athlete, Renato De Jesús Castillo Hernández.
Currently, former mayor Sosa Marte is a member of the Fuerza del Pueblo (FP) party, who seeks to return as a candidate to preside over the Bayaguana City Council in the next elections of 2028.
