Gasoline Soaked Walls & A Blowtorch: Man Sends Family Party Up In Flames

**Dakota Valkyrie** · January 4th, 2011, 08:48 PM

A Puerto Rico man accused of attacking his family with gasoline and a blowtorch has been charged with murder after two of his alleged victims died from their wounds.

Forty-five-year-old Justino Sanchez Diaz had been arrested on attempted-murder charges for the New Year's Day attack. But the island Justice Department announced Monday that a 17-year-old niece and 32-year-old cousin of Sanchez have died from their burns. Seven others are injured.

Two Seattle residents, Kate Donahue and Jesus Sanchez, are among those injured. Sanchez is Diaz's nephew, according to family members, and the couple had recently gotten engaged.
[...]

The attack left the 25-year-old woman and her fiance sustained critical burns.
[...]

Planning to get married at Kerry Park this summer, Donahue had gone to Puerto Rico to become acquainted with his relatives when a family member sprinkled gasoline and lit it up with a blowtorch during a gathering on the first day of the year, according to investigators.

"It's his (Jesus') uncle," Moore said. "From what I've heard, he did have some mental issues. I'm not sure what they were, but he'd never been aggressive before."
[...]

http://www.seattlepi.com/local/432713_blowtorch.html

The mother of the man suspected of carrying out the attack, 45-year-old Justino Sanchez Diaz, died of her injuries Tuesday, Marquez said.
[...]

The blaze occurred Saturday in the central Puerto Rican mountain town of Florida, where Sanchez Diaz lives in a two-story house with his parents and a sister, police Lt. Reinaldo Jimenez said.

Sanchez Diaz had doused the walls of the house with gasoline and set canisters filled with fuel under the dining room table and other furniture, he said.

"He planned the party so that everyone would show up," Jimenez said.

As soon as the 14 people sat down for an early dinner on Jan. 1, Sanchez emerged from his room armed with a 20-pound container of propane gas and then doused them with kerosene, Jimenez said witnesses told police.

He then set them on fire using a stick wrapped with a towel soaked in fuel, Jimenez said.

Heidi Robles, identified as one of the suspect's nieces, told the newspaper Primera Hora that several relatives ran out of the house on fire and that neighbors used hoses to try to put out the flames.

"He is going to pay for this," she was quoted as saying.

Police and firefighters found Sanchez Diaz in a bathroom where he had filled the tub and sink with water, Jimenez said.

Prosecutors expected to charge Sanchez Diaz late Tuesday with his mother's death. It was unclear if he had an attorney. The phone went unanswered at the offices of Puerto Rico's Legal Assistance Association.

Sanchez Diaz has had run-ins with his family in the past, and about five years ago he set fire to a hen house in the back of the home that belonged to his brother, Jimenez said.

Since the blaze, Sanchez Diaz has refused to eat or talk about a possible motive, the police officer said.

http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/art...tim-936925.php

Kate Donahue and her fiance Jesus Sanchez flew to Puerto Rico to visit his family
to celebrate after getting engaged two weeks ago. Crazy Uncle Justino set them
and other party guest ablaze.

**HellCat** · January 5th, 2011, 12:03 AM

What the heck is up with the blowtorches, people?!

'...he'd never been aggressive before...'
'...five years ago he set fire to a hen-house...'
Ahhhh... So which is it? Violent criminals frequently hone their demented skills on animals first...

What a lovely young couple! I'm sending prayers for their complete and speedy recoveries heavenward tonight.

Gotta say this though... You can't pick your family... But you sure as hell CAN pick your in-laws! Run, Kate, run...

**Dakota Valkyrie** · January 6th, 2011, 05:47 PM

Kate Donahue, 25, died Thursday the the University of Miami burn unit, where she had been in a medically-induced coma, according to her friends.

Her fiancé, 28-year-old Jesus Sanchez, died on Tuesday at the Puerto Rico trauma center.
[...]

Sanchez and Donahue were to be married in Seattle's Kerry Park in July.

http://www.seattlepi.com/local/432900_burn6.html

**captaingrumpy** · January 9th, 2011, 09:14 PM

Originally Posted by Dakota Valkyrie

http://www.seattlepi.com/local/432713_blowtorch.html
http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/art...tim-936925.php

Kate Donahue and her fiance Jesus Sanchez flew to Puerto Rico to visit his family
to celebrate after getting engaged two weeks ago. Crazy Uncle Justino set them
and other party guest ablaze.

Racial diversity is a bad idea.
You can pick your nose but not your in-laws.

**Nell** · January 9th, 2011, 11:05 PM

Originally Posted by captaingrumpy

Racial diversity is a bad idea.
You can pick your nose but not your in-laws.

Holy shit. You are a nutter.

**HellCat** · January 10th, 2011, 05:36 PM

Originally Posted by Dakota Valkyrie

http://www.seattlepi.com/local/432900_burn6.html

Well, damn...

Thanks for the update, DV. Rest in peace, Kate and Jesus...

**Whisper** · July 18th, 2011, 09:44 PM

'Celebration of love' held for slain Seattle couple on their planned wedding day

Seattle couple Kate Donahue and Jesus Sanchez would have been exchanging wedding vows on Sunday, but shortly after their engagement, they were killed in a blowtorch attack in Puerto Rico.

Instead of spending the day in a sad and somber mood, both families decided to get together and spend the day celebrating their love at Seattle's Space Needle, where the original wedding reception was scheduled to occur.

Sanchez, a Boeing Co. engineer, had only known Donahue for five months when he asked the Group Health nurse to marry him. His sister Patricia Sanchez said Sunday that he had fallen head over heels.

“My other sister was the first to meet her and she said, ‘Patricia, Jesus met this girl, it’s so ridiculous, he’s acting so funny and so in love, I’ve never seen him like this.’”

Kate’s father, Tom Donahue, said, “They were so much alike, sense of humor, and having fun was a big part of their life.”

Shortly after getting engaged, Sanchez took Donahue to Puerto Rico to meet his family. Police said that last New Year’s Day, Sanchez’s uncle splashed gasoline on nine people at the family gathering and set them afire with a blowtorch. Six died, including Donahue and Sanchez. A motive was never determined.

[...]
“Obviously I get sad,” Patricia Sanchez said Sunday. “What makes me sad is having lost all these people that I cared for. I try not to think about all the details, or how it happened. That’s not what is important, what is important is remembering them.”

Tom Donahue said he should have been walking his daughter down the aisle Sunday and celebrating her new life with her husband at the Space Needle.

“I think about it a lot,” he said. “It`s been very difficult day. We`ve had a lot of family surround us, knowing that we`d be struggling with this.”

So they turned Sunday into a celebration of Kate and Jesus’ love. Jesus’ father, Peter, flew in from Puerto Rico for the event.

Kate’s mother, Michelle Donahue, said, “They had a love for each other that was unbelievable. Love for family and today we are one with the Sanchez family -- one big family. We so feel their presence here, we’re doing exactly what she would want. Look at the cake, this is just the kind of people they were -- fun, oh so much fun.”

http://www.q13fox.com/news/kcpq-cele...,0,46618.story

**Dakota Valkyrie** · September 12th, 2011, 09:02 AM

A Puerto Rico man was found guilty Thursday of setting several of his relatives on fire on New Year's Day, including a Seattle woman engaged to his nephew.

Justino Sanchez Diaz was convicted after both sides presented their final arguments Thursday morning. Judge Marta Rosario from the First Tribunal in Arecibo pronounced the guilty verdict.

Diaz was charged with six counts of first-degree murder and seven counts of attempted murder.
[...]

Raul Lopez, the prosecution's expert psychiatrist, said that the defendant was motivated by frustration and resentment, but with full consciousness of his actions.

Lawyers for the defendant argued that Diaz suffered from "delusional disorder" and was not responsible for his acts - an argument that was rejected by the judge and jury.

http://www.komonews.com/news/local/129469898.html

**Hellsbells** · September 27th, 2011, 02:26 PM

Puerto Rico man gets 198 years in torch attack

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — A man in Puerto Rico who set fire to his family's New Year's Day gathering has been sentenced to 198 years in prison for killing six people.

A judge in the U.S. island territory sentenced Justino Sanchez Diaz on charges that included murder and attempted murder. Sanchez used gasoline and a makeshift blowtorch to attack the New Year's Day gathering in the northern town of Florida.

Prosecutor Wilson Gonzalez said Monday that Sanchez would not be eligible for parole until after 115 years so it's effectively a life sentence for the 48-year-old.

http://www.seattlepi.com/news/articl...ck-2189409.php