Wednesday, December 30, 2009
It would be naive to believe that Brazilian officials had an epiphany after five years and decided that a 9-year-old boy should be returned to his American father in New Jersey.
President Obama’s discussion about the situation with his Brazilian counterpart, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, and the U.S. Senate’s putting a hold on a trade deal worth about $2.75 billion a year to Brazil were the game changers.
And that’s exactly what we’ve been demanding for two years in the case of slain Newton Falls resident Karl Hoerig.
Claudia C. Hoerig, who was married to Karl, a major in the Air Force Reserve, fled to her native Brazil after allegedly murdering her husband. She was an American citizen when she boarded a plane home — she had retained her Brazilian citizenship — and for the past two years has succeeded in avoiding prosecution.
Karl Hoerig’s body was found in their home in March 2007. He was shot to death.
Claudia Hoerig has been indicted by a Trumbull County grand jury on a charge of aggravated murder with a gun specification, and county Prosecutor Dennis Watkins has been seeking her extradition from Brazil.
However, Brazilian officials have ignored his pleas and those of congressmen Tim Ryan, D-Niles, and John Boccieri, D-Alliance, formerly of New Middletown. Boccieri is a major in the Air Force Reserve.
U.S. government cooperation
Ryan and Boccieri are co-sponsors of a provision in the U.S. Foreign Relations Authorization Act, which was approved in the House and awaits action in the Senate, that calls for Claudia Hoerig’s extradition. It also asks for the U.S. government’s cooperation in making that happen.
Ryan and Boccieri have discussed the possibility of traveling to Brazil to personally plead with the government to permit Claudia’s return to the Mahoning Valley, but a final decision has not been made. In light to the release of 9-year-old Sean Goldman to his father, David, however, the timing of such a visit is perfect.
Indeed, U.S. Rep. Chris Smith, a New Jersey Republican, traveled to Brazil with Goldman several times to make the case for the boy’s release.
Brazil’s contention that it does not permit extradition of its citizens to stand trial in a foreign country does not apply in the Hoerig murder because Claudia Hoerig was an American citizen when she fled the country. She should not be permitted to now hide behind her Brazilian nationality.
Brazil is an ally of the United States and benefits greatly from this relationship.
The return of 9-year-old Sean to his father, David, in the face of pressure from Washington makes it clear that money does talk. Brazil wasn’t willing to risk the major trade deal with the U.S.
While the story of a young boy being taken away from his father by his Brazilian mother, who then got a divorce while in Brazil, got married and died in childbirth is heart wrenching, so is the unsolved murder of a major in the Air Force Reserve.
We urge the Obama administration to do right with the family of the slain Trumbull County resident and intercede in this case. And, we urge the Senate to use the same threat it did in the Sean Goldman case to show the Brazilians that justice knows no bounds.