Brazilians have no credibility when it comes to Hoerig case

It has been seven-plus years that the accused killer of U.S. Air Force Reserve Maj. Karl Hoerig of Newton Falls has been living in freedom in Brazil, so we have no reason to believe the government is sincere when it says it’s ready to prosecute Claudia Hoerig, wife of the decorated flier.

Claudia Hoerig arrived in Brazil about the time her husband’s body was discovered in March 2007 in their Newton Falls home. She had dual citizenship at the time, American and Brazilian, and although she was subsequently indicted by a Trumbull County grand jury of aggravated murder with a gun specification, the Brazilian government ignored Prosecutor Dennis Watkins’ extradition request.

Thus, Watkins, who has spent an inordinate amount of time over the years seeking justice for the slain commercial and Air Force pilot, has gone all the way to Washington seeking the assistance of the federal government. Thus far, the trade relationship between the U.S. and Brazil has taken precedence over justice.

Appeals to the White House have fallen on deaf ears — until now, it seems.

Watkins received a letter from the Justice Department asking for copies of all documents in his case file so they can be sent to Brazilian authorities in their prosecution of Claudia Hoerig.

To his credit, and not unexpectedly, the outspoken Trumbull County prosecutor has told the Justice Department to pound salt.

“After discussing this matter with Karl Hoerig’s family, all agree that any Brazilian prosecution of this case at any time is unacceptable and inappropriate,” Watkins wrote to Atty. Kyle Latimer.

There are numerous reasons why turning over copies of documents contained in the case file would be an exercise in futility. First, like Watkins, we do not believe the Brazilians have any intention of bringing Claudia Hoerig to justice. But even if there is a trial, it will be nothing more than a farce.

Athough the minster of justice last year declared that Hoerig is not a Brazilian citizen, thus affirming her American citizenship, the government has not taken any action to return her to Trumbull County.

Indeed, the fact that Hoerig is an American citizen and the crime she is alleged to have committed occurred in the United States, what right does the Brazilian government have to prosecute her for murder? To the argument that she had dual citizenship when her husband, Karl, was killed, there is a document she signed in August 1999 when her petition of American citizenship was processed that shows she listed Brazil as “Country of Former Nationality.” She signed her name under “Oath of Allegiance to the United States.”

In other words, she renounced her Brazilian citizenship when she took the oath of U.S. citizenship.

Disappointment

Like the Trumbull County prosecutor, we have greatly highly disappointed that neither President Barack Obama nor his predecessor, George W. Bush, would seek justice for an American serviceman murdered in cold blood by putting pressure on a trading partner, Brazil, to send the accused back to stand trial.

The White House could easily have withheld aid in order to force the issue.

Congressman Tim Ryan of Howland, D-13th, and former Congressman John Boccieri, who once lived in New Middletown and is a colonel in the Air Force Reserve, tried to persuade the administration through various legislative strategies, to no avail.

Now, with Claudia Hoerig stripped of her Brazilian citizenship, there’s no reason for the Justice Department to be a party to the Brazil’s pretense of prosecuting her.

The Obama administration should demand Hoerig’s extradition so Trumbull County Prosecutor Waktins and his staff can move forward with this long-standing case.