The man brought to face justice by the daughter of an Inwood restaurateur he fatally shot over 25 years ago told a judge Thursday that the killing was an act of “self-defense” and then, in a stunning move, blamed the victim for destroying his life.
Justo Santos, 44, was on the lam when Joselyn Martinez tracked him to a Miami hideout last year through social media.
“It destroyed my life,” whined the clean-cut father of five, wearing glasses and a smart beige blazer in a Manhattan court hearing.
“Your killing Mr. Martinez destroyed your life?” Assistant District Attorney Elizabeth Lederer asked incredulously, referring to the victim, Jose Martinez.
“I was the victim, too,” he complained.
The hearing was set to determine whether Santos’ due process rights were violated by authorities’ failure to arrest and prosecute him in a timely manner.
Defense attorney Lawrence Herrmann argued that the authorities were negligent for not arresting and indicting Santos sooner, making it difficult for them to put on a credible defense.
The victim’s daughter, a beautiful aspiring actress, who sat in the gallery during the testimony, was outraged by Santos’ statements.
“He says he’s the victim,” scoffed Martinez, who was only 9 when her father was gunned down. “It’s really absurd but not surprising. He’s a person that flees, that never took responsibility for what he did.”
In 1986, Santos and two pals were tossed out of Martinez’s restaurant for making a crude comment to a waitress, prosecutors allege.
But Santos testified that Martinez was the aggressor, pursuing him outside the restaurant and putting him in a chokehold.
“I thought he was killing me,” he told Justice Robert Stolz. “I shot him because he was killing me and I wanted him off.”
Santos fled to the Dominican Republic and was apprehended by authorities there in 1988 for the murder of Martinez.
He was convicted of felony involuntary manslaughter, served about a year in jail and was ordered to pay the victim’s mother and brother 50,000 pesos, prosecutors said.
At the age of 19, Santos snuck back into the United States, establishing himself in Miami and eventually gaining citizenship. In an ironic twist, Santos worked for a cleaning company that had a contract with Miami-Dade Police Headquarters. “I was a private manager for the property,” he said. “I had a master key.”
Despite his criminal past, Santos got a concealed weapon permit and a gun in 1999, lying about whether he’d ever been convicted of a felony on the application. “I had a sports bar, which is the main reason I got the gun,” he said.
“That’s interesting,” Martinez said sarcastically. “He got a gun to protect himself from guys like him who go into places and harass people.”
The hearing will resume Sept. 18.