BOSTON — According to private investigators, a Dominican drug trafficker was jealous of David Ortiz. He felt disgraced by Ortiz. Red SoxA slugger was hired to investigate the attack that almost killed him.
Edward Davis, an ex-Boston police commissioner, found that the theory of Dominican’s crime was not supported by his findings.
Davis told The Boston Globe that he identified drug-trafficker César Peralta as having orchestrated the shooting by placing a bounty on Ortiz and sanctioning the hit squad that tried to kill him. Dominican authorities refused to cooperate with the private investigation.
Peralta is held in Puerto Rico without bail for unrelated charges of conspiracy and importation of cocaine and heroin. Peralta was designated a drug kingpin by the U.S. Treasury in 2019 and was extradited to the U.S. territory on December.
Joe Baerlein, Ortiz’s spokesperson, stated to the Globe that Davis’ findings were withheld in order for Ortiz’s safety until Peralta was taken into custody in the U.S.
Peralta has not been indicted for Ortiz’s shooting. Joaquin Perez Peralta, Peralta’s lawyer said that his client was innocent of any involvement in the attempted murder of Ortiz.
“As bad as César Peralta is, it’s not even close to being in the ballpark to say he had something to do with this,” Perez said.
Perez described Ortiz and Peralta as “close friends.” Peralta said that he had only known Ortiz casually. He also stated that he was sad, confused, angry and feeling all sorts of emotions when he got the news from Ric Prado and Davis, a former high ranking CIA official who were involved in the inquiry.
Dominican authorities claim that Sixto David Fernandez was the target. He was at Ortiz’s table when he was killed. Authorities claimed that the hitmen mistook Fernandez and Ortiz for one of the most famous Dominican baseballplayers.
Treisteen people were charged in connection to Ortiz’s shooting, and they are currently awaiting trial in Dominican Republic.
Baerlein stated Ortiz was awaiting further legal action in Dominican and U.S courts to clarify why this happened.
Ortiz was a 10-time All-Star and helped the Red Sox win their 86-year championship drought. He batted.688 in the match against the Boston Red Sox. St. Louis Cardinals2013 World Series MVP.
Ortiz was unable to complete the 2016 season, despite hitting 541 home runs. The team also retired his No. 34. In January, he was the first person to vote for him in the Baseball Hall of Fame.
He had a Boston home and lived part of the year in Dominican Republic. In the shooting on June 9, 2019, he sustained serious injuries. After the shooting Ortiz had his gallbladder removed and part of the intestine removed by doctors in Dominican Republic. He was then admitted to the United States for further surgery.
Ortiz said to the Globe that he wanted to know why anyone might want Ortiz dead, but that the most important thing was, “Thank God, I am alive.”