Journalist. Was a investigative journalist with the Spanish-language press in New York and Puerto Rico. Born in Camaguey, Cuba he spent several years residing in Spain after the Cuban Revolution of 1959 before he and his family relocated permanently to Puerto Rico in 1967. After earning his Masters of Science degree in criminal justice from the Universidad Interamericana de Puerto Rico (Inter American University of Puerto Rico) he relocated to New York in 1973.
In New York, he joined El Diario joined the staff of the city's largest Spanish-language newspaper, El Diario-La Prensa and served as its' editor from 1983 to 1989. It was around that time that he began to write extensively about the Colombian drug cartels that had overtaken Colombia via ruthless force and violence. His 1988 expose, "The Secrets of the Medellín Cartel," became one of the most respected books on the topic of drug cartels. However, his writing on these cartels also earned him many enemies in Colombia and in New York's Colombian emigre community.
On March 11, 1992, while dining at a restaurant in the predominately-Colombian neighborhood of Elmhurst (the now closed 'Meson Asturias' located at 4012 83rd Street), in the borough of Queens, he was murdered in cold blood by a 19-year-old assailant, who was hired by the cartels to silence him for good. The assailant was later caught in Miami and tried for murder in 1994.
He was survived by his mother, three sisters (one of them being Dr. Teresa de Dios Unuane, who is a notable educator and President of Atlantic University College in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico), a brother, as well as his girlfriend and business partner Vicky Sanchez and their two year-old daughter Melody.
In New York, he joined El Diario joined the staff of the city's largest Spanish-language newspaper, El Diario-La Prensa and served as its' editor from 1983 to 1989. It was around that time that he began to write extensively about the Colombian drug cartels that had overtaken Colombia via ruthless force and violence. His 1988 expose, "The Secrets of the Medellín Cartel," became one of the most respected books on the topic of drug cartels. However, his writing on these cartels also earned him many enemies in Colombia and in New York's Colombian emigre community.
On March 11, 1992, while dining at a restaurant in the predominately-Colombian neighborhood of Elmhurst (the now closed 'Meson Asturias' located at 4012 83rd Street), in the borough of Queens, he was murdered in cold blood by a 19-year-old assailant, who was hired by the cartels to silence him for good. The assailant was later caught in Miami and tried for murder in 1994.
He was survived by his mother, three sisters (one of them being Dr. Teresa de Dios Unuane, who is a notable educator and President of Atlantic University College in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico), a brother, as well as his girlfriend and business partner Vicky Sanchez and their two year-old daughter Melody.
Journalist. Was a investigative journalist with the Spanish-language press in New York and Puerto Rico. Born in Camaguey, Cuba he spent several years residing in Spain after the Cuban Revolution of 1959 before he and his family relocated permanently to Puerto Rico in 1967. After earning his Masters of Science degree in criminal justice from the Universidad Interamericana de Puerto Rico (Inter American University of Puerto Rico) he relocated to New York in 1973.
In New York, he joined El Diario joined the staff of the city's largest Spanish-language newspaper, El Diario-La Prensa and served as its' editor from 1983 to 1989. It was around that time that he began to write extensively about the Colombian drug cartels that had overtaken Colombia via ruthless force and violence. His 1988 expose, "The Secrets of the Medellín Cartel," became one of the most respected books on the topic of drug cartels. However, his writing on these cartels also earned him many enemies in Colombia and in New York's Colombian emigre community.
On March 11, 1992, while dining at a restaurant in the predominately-Colombian neighborhood of Elmhurst (the now closed 'Meson Asturias' located at 4012 83rd Street), in the borough of Queens, he was murdered in cold blood by a 19-year-old assailant, who was hired by the cartels to silence him for good. The assailant was later caught in Miami and tried for murder in 1994.
He was survived by his mother, three sisters (one of them being Dr. Teresa de Dios Unuane, who is a notable educator and President of Atlantic University College in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico), a brother, as well as his girlfriend and business partner Vicky Sanchez and their two year-old daughter Melody.
In New York, he joined El Diario joined the staff of the city's largest Spanish-language newspaper, El Diario-La Prensa and served as its' editor from 1983 to 1989. It was around that time that he began to write extensively about the Colombian drug cartels that had overtaken Colombia via ruthless force and violence. His 1988 expose, "The Secrets of the Medellín Cartel," became one of the most respected books on the topic of drug cartels. However, his writing on these cartels also earned him many enemies in Colombia and in New York's Colombian emigre community.
On March 11, 1992, while dining at a restaurant in the predominately-Colombian neighborhood of Elmhurst (the now closed 'Meson Asturias' located at 4012 83rd Street), in the borough of Queens, he was murdered in cold blood by a 19-year-old assailant, who was hired by the cartels to silence him for good. The assailant was later caught in Miami and tried for murder in 1994.
He was survived by his mother, three sisters (one of them being Dr. Teresa de Dios Unuane, who is a notable educator and President of Atlantic University College in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico), a brother, as well as his girlfriend and business partner Vicky Sanchez and their two year-old daughter Melody.
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