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AGO maintains it has the right guy
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Posted on Feb 07 2005
The Attorney General’s Office maintained that the Chinese man who was arrested by immigration officers at the Saipan International Airport after using a false passport is the suspect in the murder of a security guard at a Saipan poker house.
CNMI chief prosecutor David Hutton said his office has not ruled out Ying Zhao as a suspect in the murder of the Li Jiang Quan at the J&C Poker in China Town on Jan. 2. Hutton said, though, that law enforcers are also looking at two other suspects in the murder, as investigation on the case is still ongoing.
“All defense lawyers say that their clients are not guilty,” Hutton said, reacting to a reported statement of lawyer Joseph Arriola that Zhao had nothing to do with the murder.
The culprit in the murder stabbed the security guard to death and robbed the poker establishment of some $7,000 in cash.
Immigration officers on Saipan’s airport arrested Zhao on Tuesday last week, when the suspect attempted to leave the CNMI by using a false passport.
Immigration inspector Erwin Flores said in an affidavit submitted to the Superior Court that Zhao used a passport bearing the name of Chunjun Shao.
He said that one of the immigration officers at the airport, Jose Rebuenog, noticed Zhao’s resemblance to the man appearing on a surveillance camera photo being circulated by law enforcers.
When Rebuenog asked him if he was the bearer of the passport, Zhao allegedly replied that he simply gained weight. Rebuenog then advised the Transportation Security Administration agents to hold the passenger back for further photo verification and identification.
Zhao’s identity was ascertained when airport authorities asked him for other identification cards, including his driver’s license, according to Flores.
Flores filed with the court a complaint against Zhao for violating immigration law. The court set a $100,000 bail against Zhao and directed him to surrender his travel documents.
