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Dupont Plaza Hotel Fire
1986
       

On December 31, 1986, the Dupont Plaza Hotel (now San Juan Marriott Resort & Stellaris Casino), in 1309 Ashford Ave., San Juan, Puerto Rico burned, killing 96 people.

At the time, hotel management was engaged in difficult collective bargaining negotiations with the Teamsters Union. It is said that Hector Escudero Aponte, a 35 years maintenance worker and teamsters union member confessed to placing a burning canister of ''Sterno-type'' cooking fuel on or near ''a stack of furniture'' stored along a wall of the south ballroom. He was arraigned on ninety-six counts of murder and on 22 June 1987 Aponte and two accomplices,  Armando Jimenez Rivera, a busboy, and Jose Francisco Rivera Lopez, were sentenced to terms ranging from seventy-five to ninety-nine years in prison for these homicides.

Of the three employees accused of the fire, only one: Hector Escudero Aponte, is still in prison. Armando Jimenez Rivera and Jose Francisco Rivera Lopez were released from federal prison in 2001 and 2002 respectively.

 

 

Official Casualty List
  1. Adelaida Altagracia Lopez Santelizes
  2. Alvin Martin Cohen
  3. Ana Dilia Davila Perfecto de Chaar, 65 yrs.
  4. Ana Margarita Suarez Janer
  5. Ana Maria Maldonado Medina
  6. Angelo Delli Santi
  7. Anita Brewstein
  8. Antonio D'Ambrosio
  9. Antonio Flores Sepulveda, casino employee
  10. Anthony Di Ricci
  11. Armando Correa Sullivan or Gutierrez, 65 yrs., from Cayey
  12. Armando de Leon Viera
  13. Barbara Petrocelli, from CT
  14. Berryl Spector, from Dover, NH
  15. Carlos Manuel Cartagena Bernard, contralor Yabucoa Sun Oil
  16. Carmen R. Diaz Collazo de Irizarry
  17. Carmen Ramos De la Paz
  18. Dang Mung
  19. Diego "Dikie" Palemine
  20. Dolores "Lolo" Rivera Castellanos
  21. Dominique J. Curia
  22. Doris Kathyan Campiglia, from Oceanside, NY
  23. Edgardo "Eddie" Garofalo Rodriguez
  24. Earl Brook Thompson, Dupont Plaza general manager
  25. Emma Yanni, from Staten Island, NY
  26. Erika Unternachrer, from Zurich
  27. Fernando Rodriguez Cruz
  28. Francisco Aponte Adorno
  29. Francisco Rodriguez Diaz, casino employee
  30. Gamalier Castillo Malave, casino employee
  31. Guillermo Ripoll Davila, casino employee
  32. Hector Manuel Rosado Malpica, casino employee
  33. Hector Miranda Rivera, casino employee
  34. Hector Rivera Rivera, casino employee
  35. Herbert Sussmann
  36. Isaac Pesso
  37. Israel Martinez Rivera
  38. Jean Fogel, from Canada
  39. Jerome Mendell
  40. Joe Katz
  41. Jose Garcia Rivera
  42. Jose Luis Almestica Febres
  43.   Jose "Pepito" Rivera Janer, president of the newspaper El Reportero. He was a close associate of Gov. Rafael Hernandez Colon's in electoral campaigns and held high-ranking positions in the Governor's first administration, from 1972 to 1976.
  44. Joseph Gulli, from Richport, CT
  45. Juan Alberto Delgado, casino employee
  46. Juan Alberto "Tato" Arteaga Ruiz
  47. Juan Luis Figueroa Bonilla
  48. Juana Rivera Serrano
  49. Juan Rosario Torres
  50. Larry Wilson Standsberry, from Ohio
  51. Lilly Schnaeder, from Canada
  52. Linda Borkowski
  53. Lloyd Preston Hunt, from St. Louis
  54. Louis Seamon
  55. Luis Garcia Suarez
  56. Manuel Garcia Arroyo
  57. Manuel de Jesus Marrero Otero, FBI agent
  58. Manuel Fernandez Rodriguez
  59. Maria A. Diaz Lopez
  60. Margaret Ahrens, according to The Associated Press. She was a prominent performer of contemporary music in New York.
  61. Merry Burke
  62. Michael A. Petrocelli, from CT
  63. Michael Anthony Campiglia
  64. Miguel Angel "Mickey" Buitrago Palacios, casino employee
  65. Milton Sherman
  66. Mirna Milagros "Minin" Fuentes Reyes, Lcda.
  67. Nelly Balaguer Cross
  68. Nydia Josefina Navarro Alicea, teacher
  69. Omega Garcia Rivera de Pumarejo
  70. Patria Vazquez Santiago de Duvall
  71. Pura Cross Cintron
  72. Rafael "Pio, Bartolo" Bigio Lopez, 43 yrs, croupier
  73. Ramon Irizarry Quiles
  74. Robert J. Buckinham
  75. Roberto Mendez Mendez, casino employee
  76. Roberto Resto Figueroa, casino employee
  77. Roberto Melillo
  78. Rosalina Rosado Reyes
  79. Roselyn Nuddle, from Pennsylvania
  80. Ruben Ramos Perez, casino employee
  81. Ruth Weber
  82. Santiago Torres Hernandez, casino employee
  83. Sebastian Levanti Partano
  84. Seymour Nuddee
  85. Sofia Pesso
  86. Socorro Lopez Marcano
  87. Susan Lawrence
  88. Thelma Turin
  89. Victor Jaime Silva Vazquez
  90. Victor Jose Pumarejo Garcia
  91. Virginia Rodriguez Rodriguez
  92. William Dominic Craine, from Howard Beach, NY
  93. John Doe No. 29
  94. John Doe No. 81
  95. John Doe No. 88
  96. John Doe No. 90
 

Source: El Nuevo Dia Newspaper, 14 Jan 1987 and earlier issues.

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Last Update October 8, 2008
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