IN MY OPINION
In time, killer will be caught, justice served
Posted on Wed, Jul. 09, 2008
BY ANA MENENDEZ
In the early morning of July 15, 2003, someone attacked Gladys Jorge in her home, hitting her head with such force that she didn't even have time to fight back. Jorge's elderly mother found her body the next morning, lying in her own blood. She was still wearing the hair rollers that she wore to bed every night.
Nothing had been disturbed except for a chair that Jorge must have knocked over as she went down. The killer left her sprawled between her bed and the armoire. No money had been taken. The floor and bathroom sink had been wiped clean of blood. On the way out, the killer locked the door.
Death had come so suddenly that police could not find DNA evidence anywhere on Jorge's body.
The rest of the evidence was circumstantial. But from the beginning, police suspected Jorge's boyfriend, Eugenio Farinas. Six months after the murder, homicide detective John Butchko told The Herald that Farinas ``remains the only suspect.''
Five years later, police have made no arrests. Detective Juan Villalba Jr., a spokesman for the Miami-Dade Police Department, said the investigation is still open and that the department ``is not releasing any information on suspects at this time.''
Criminal defense attorney James McGuirk, whom Farinas hired soon after the murder, had no comment when I called. A woman who answered the phone at the last known address for Farinas hung up when I identified myself.
As the fifth anniversary approaches, Jorge's sister and mother have a hard time understanding why there has been so little progress in the case.
Jorge's daughter, though, understands. Until shortly before her mother's death, Jennifer Jorge, now 36, was an assistant public defender in Broward.
She understands that the case against the original suspect is circumstantial: ``In court, I could poke a million holes in it.''
It is an especially cruel torture for Jennifer. Every moment of grief is interrupted by her professional voice. The certainty that might bring others comfort is continuously undermined by experience.
Jennifer says that aside from Gladys' mother, Farinas was the only other person with a key to her house: 'But a defense attorney would say, `How do you know that? How do you know she didn't give a key to someone else?' ''
Yes, it's notable that after the murder, an anonymous call directing police to Jorge's house was traced to the office of the attorney who had represented Farinas in his divorce case. ''But that attorney has had hundreds of clients,'' Jennifer said. ``It could have been any one of them.''
Farinas didn't go to Jorge's funeral. Jennifer says he never contacted the family or picked up the clothes he had left at her house. Strange, but not conclusive.
Jennifer can never be a defense attorney again. ''I made witnesses cry on the stand. It makes me sick to know that.'' But the ideals that led her to the job in the first place are hard to shake, even now. She knows the legal system moves slowly, but she still has faith in it.
A few months ago, Jennifer hired a private investigator, Marcos Pinedo, who went to high school with Gladys. Jennifer hopes he'll be able to succeed where police have languished. So do I.
The person who killed Gladys Jorge is still walking free. But someday, something or someone will betray him. A friend, a drinking buddy, his conscience. I don't believe in closure. I do believe in justice.
It was a brutal murder that forever marked those who knew her and devastated a close family. I know because Gladys was my cousin.
Herald researcher Monika Leal contributed to this column.
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