Friends Deception & Murders In Aruba

Steven Winer

Description

Four young and naïve college students from Minnesota were seeking an organization to help immigrants assimilate into the culture and laws of the United States. They all agreed to work with a group of other college students in the Somali Adult Literacy Training group located in an area called Little Mogadishu just outside of downtown Minneapolis. The leader of the Mosque located in the area agreed to allow the group to do their work under strict conditions.
Some years later, those conditions caused those four individuals to involuntarily become involved in a criminal enterprise in which they thought were being run by the Mosque while generating millions of dollars. The criminal activity was actually a sting in which those four individuals, and others, were not even aware of exactly who had taken control of the Sting. Unbeknownst to them, the sting was based out of Aruba and other major cities throughout the United States. During the two year sting operation several murders, thought to be related to the sting, occurred in Aruba.
This book takes the reader into the undercover world of the FBI and Aruba police to determine who and why the murders occurred. It sets forth the mystery of several stings causing all four individuals, and others, to become suspects in both the murders and the illegal operations by the Mosque. It further reveals the mystery of who committed the murders as well as who was actually involved in reaping the large sums of money generated by the complicated schemes.

Sujets

• Fiction

Informations

• Publié par: Xlibris US
• Date de parution: 28 juillet 2023
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9798369403600
• Langue: English

Extrait

Other books by Steven W ine r
Decep tion
Lies, Larceny & Law yers
Brothers Law and G reed
Family Betrayal & Mu rder
Friends Greed & Mu rder
FRIENDS
 
DECEPTION & MURDERS IN ARUBA
 
 
 
 
STEVEN WINER
 
 
Copyright © 2023 by Steven Winer.
 

Library of Congress Control Number:
2023913346
ISBN:
Softcover
979-8-3694-0361-7
 
eBook
979-8-3694-0360-0
 
 
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.
 
THIS IS A WORK OF FICTION. NAMES, CHARACTERS, PLACES AND INCIDENTS EITHER ARE THE PRODUCT OF THE AUTHOR’S IMAGINATION OR ARE USED FICTITIOUSLY, AND ANY RESEMBLANCE TO ANY ACTUAL PERSONS, LIVING OR DEAD, EVENTS, OR LOCALES IS ENTIRELY COINCIDENTAL.
 
Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.
Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.
 
 
 
Rev. date: 07/28/2023
 
 
 
Xlibris
844-714-8691
www.Xlibris.com
854775
CONTENTS
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
 
 
 
Dear Re ader:
I am apologizing before you begin to read this book concerning several grammar and spelling mistakes that you may encounter. No matter how many eyes look at the text of the book before publishing, mistakes are still made. I have found this in several other books I have read. Otherwise, despite these errors, please enjoy the read.
Steven W iner
CHAPTER 1
Johm Ruiz, a 45 year old native of Aruba, was lying dead on a cold stainless steel slab in a windowless first floor room inside the police station located just outside downtown Oranjestad, Aruba. The room was primarily used as storage for servers and computers by the police for the Caribbean Country Island. It was the only room that had central air conditioning. That was for a good reason. Its secondary use was as a morgue. All other rooms, on the first floor had window air conditioners. The police station was a large two story contemporary cement and concrete block building retaining the old traditional Dutch architectural style.
Aruba had always appreciated its Dutch culture. Since 1845 Aruba was part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It became independent in 1986, but continued to retain much of its Dutch background, culture and legal system. In 1990, the Aruban people voted, by a vast majority, to go back to a constitute country of the Netherlands. However, with the Netherland’s blessings, all internal affairs and laws were still governed by the Aruban government with all political positions voted on by the Aruban people. The perfect compromise for the Island’s nickname, “One Happy Island.”
Doctor Jan Fingal, the part time coroner for the Island, was cleaning Ruiz’s body preparing him for an autopsy. Dr. Fingal was in private practice, as a thoracic surgeon, associated with the Island’s main hospital, Dr. Horacio Oduber Hospital. He was born on the Island but, with his family’s blessings and their money, he received his undergraduate degree and medical degree at the University of Virginia. He did his internship at Walter Reed Hospital in Washington DC.
That’s where Jan met his wife, Sally. She was a certified public accountant working at a small accounting firm. With the blessings of both families, they married in Washington DC after his internship was completed and they moved to Aruba. At first, it was a culture shock for Sally, but she adapted well. Jan helped her gain employment with the hospital where he worked. When Jan opened his private practice, Sally became his receptionist, bookkeeper and tax consultant. It worked out well for both of them. Dr. Fingal’s background and medical reputation as a thoracic surgeon was the reason the Aruban authorities contracted with him to perform autopsies, whenever the law required one.
Dr. Fingal, as most other individuals was not perfect. But due to his position on the Island, he kept his vices as private as possible. As the appointed coroner, his responsibilities were to investigate all un-natural deaths, or deaths where the attending medical doctor was unable to emphatically state a cause of death. He was required to establish a positive identity of the deceased, determine the place, date, time, cause and classification of death. There had been few autopsies performed in that room. Dr. Fingal was delighted about that since he received no compensation for his government work. However, most of his closest friends, family and colleagues were under the impression that he was working for the government much more often than he actually admitted. This gave him time for his most expensive vice. One that he attempted to hide from Sally, but she never admitted that she was aware that he enjoyed gambling. After all, she ran his finances. She made sure it never got out of hand.
The fact that Dr. Fingal bragged about his government work seemed odd to many, since Aruba’s murder and suspicious death rate was one of the lowest in the world. The last infamous murder was in 2005 when Natalee Holloway, a 17 year old senior, on her class trip with 124 other seniors, from Alabama’s Mountain Brook High School, disappeared. Her body was never recovered. No autopsy was ever performed in that case. A gratification for Dr. Fingal’s predecessor at the time, considering the world wide attention in that case.
Johm Ruiz was well known throughout the Island. He was one of the deputy custom officers for the Island. He supervised over 65 people who processed all of the local custom laws at the Queen Beatrix Airport and all other ports of entry for the Island. His death was a shock to all of the employees who worked with him, as well as many residents on the Island. Through his work he met many interesting people from all over the world. Some, who came to the Island frequently, he even befriended. Johm called them his ‘frequent flyers’. Several of those frequent flyers invited him out to dinner and even had him come to their timeshare or hotel for cocktails and dinner.
One of his frequent flyers, Dr. Burton Woodcock, a physician who lived in Minneapolis, Minnesota, even invited him to his home back in the States. Ruiz took up his offer one time and enjoyed the culture and beauty of the City of Minneapolis, known as the City of Lakes. That was his one and only trip outside of Aruba during his life. Other frequent flyers were also very generous to Johm. That generosity, at certain times, initiated Ruiz to overlook certain required duty payments when going through customs. However, that didn’t happen often enough for his superiors to notice. He never thought of it as corruption. Just a favor for a friend.
Johm’s supervisor, Coy Dirks, reported him missing when he didn’t show up, at the airport, for his regular shift at 9:30 AM, September 18, 2022. Other than his approved time off, Johm hadn’t missed a day in twelve years. Ruiz lived alone after him and his wife, Natasha, divorced six years prior. His only child, a daughter, Kaydra, was attending college at the University of Florida. Ruiz wanted her to have a wide-ranging American education. It was very expensive for a government employee, but Ruiz had worked it out, in several different ways, to make sure his daughter’s education was fully paid.
When he didn’t show up for work and couldn’t be reached by phone, the police were dispatched to his home. He was found lying lifeless on the floor in his kitchen. Nothing seemed out of place and there was no visible signs of a break in. There was no blood anywhere and the only strange visible mark on his body was a small bruise on his forehead. The police immediately believed it must have been a heart attack. He probably hit his head on something when he fell. However, with an overabundance of caution, the police sealed off his home as a possible crime scene until the local coroner viewed the body. Both his girlfriend, Alle Thiel, and his daughter had been notified by the Chief of Police, Biob Peterson. The Chief was also good friends with Johm and his ex-wife, Natasha, so, unbeknownst to anyone else, he also notified her. She was living in North Carolina. She left the Island immediately after their divorce was final. That seemed strange to many of their friends.
Islanders wondered. Was his death actually a medical occurrence or some sort of accident? Or, could have he been murdered? Even the unsophisticated Island police officers on scene couldn’t determine that question. So, the Police Chief thought an autopsy was necessary. Once the crime scene tape went up on Ruiz’s home, the Island’s rumor mill was immediately in full intensity.
 
At 7:30 the morning after Ruiz’s death, Bob and Kelly Walker were lounging on their balcony on the top floor of the Aruba Marriott Hotel & Casino. The hotel was located in the ‘high rise’ region of the Island as part of the exclusive Palm Beach area overlooking the Caribbean Sea. The views were breath taking from the eighth floor. They were both sipping on mimosas prior to going to the private dining room for