Priest Rearrested in Bishop’s Killing

SAN SALVADOR — The Roman Catholic priest who is a key suspect in the bludgeoning death of a crusading bishop was rearrested Wednesday, further raising expectations that the notorious killing may be solved before its two-year anniversary in April.

Father Mario Orantes was placed under house arrest after returning to Guatemala from a visit to the United States, his lawyer said. Orantes, arrested once before in the case, is accused of involvement in the slaying of Bishop Juan Jose Gerardi, who was killed two days after he released a report blaming the armed forces for most of the human rights abuses during Guatemala’s long civil war.

Four other people, including three officers from elite military units, are already in custody. The prosecutor in charge of the case now says that he believes what human rights groups have been saying for more than a year: that the April 26, 1998, killing of Gerardi was premeditated, not a result of common crime.

“The clues in the case have appeared little by little,” prosecutor Leopoldo Zeissig said, explaining why it took authorities until January to arrest retired Col. Disrael Lima Estrada, a former military intelligence officer; and his son, Capt. Byron Lima Oliva, and Jose Obdulio Villanueva, who are both former members of the presidential security staff. The fifth suspect is the woman who cooked at the parish house that Gerardi and Orantes shared.

In the past, prosecutors linked the killing to a ring of church robbers and to a homosexual love affair between clergymen. But the timing and brutality of the slaying raised suspicions of an assassination in Guatemala, which has a history of political killings disguised as common crimes.

Prosecutors have not said what they believe is the link between the military suspects and the priest.

Media accounts and human rights groups had begun mentioning the officers’ names soon after Gerardi was found in his garage with his skull crushed. The younger Lima was assigned to U.N. security forces in Cyprus shortly after the killing.

Human rights activists, church authorities and others familiar with the case attribute the progress in recent weeks to a change in the Guatemalan presidency. Alfonso Portillo was inaugurated president Jan. 14 after promising in his campaign to solve the Gerardi case.

“We hope that this indicates a commitment to find the truth,” said Bishop Mario Rios Montt, who is Gerardi’s successor as head of the Archdiocese Office on Human Rights. “This murder, and other abuses, must be solved if Guatemala is to have any international credibility.”

While representatives of the church human rights office had openly scorned the earlier arrest of Orantes--and his aging German shepherd--in July 1998, three months after the killing, they and church officials accepted Wednesday’s detention calmly. Orantes was released from custody last year and went to Houston to receive treatment for migraine headaches and digestive difficulties. He is now under house arrest at a hospital in Guatemala City.

“He is not receiving the support that a member of the church deserves,” said Orantes’ lawyer, Jose Toledo. “The church has made a complete turnaround.”

Bishop Victor Hugo Martinez, chairman of the Episcopal Conference of Guatemala, the organization of bishops, replied, “The church’s position has always been that we want to know the truth, even if members of the church are involved.”

Toledo insisted that the only evidence against Orantes is the testimony of one false witness. “The accusations are unfounded,” he said.

Villanueva’s lawyer, Irving Aguilar, said that his client was in jail 15 miles away in Antigua on the night of the killing. He had been in jail for a month before the attack and was released four days after it, he said.

The Limas’ lawyers could not be reached for comment.