Pablo San Martin was convicted and sentenced to death for the murder of Raul Lopez.
On December 6, 1991, Danilo Cabanas, Sr., Danilo Cabanas, Jr., and Raul Lopez went to pick up $25,000 in cash from the bank for the check-cashing business owned by the Cabanas family. The men left the bank in two cars with Cabanas Sr. and Jr. riding in the first car and Lopez following in a truck.
On the Palmetto Expressway, the three men were “boxed in” by two Suburbans at a stoplight.
San Martin, and co-defendants, Pablo Abreu and Leonardo Franqui exited the Suburbans, and San Martin told the victims not to move. The men in the Suburbans fled the scene after an exchange of gunfire.
Lopez was then found to have been shot in the chest and was taken to the hospital, but he died shortly after arriving at the hospital.
San Martin confessed to his involvement in the planning and execution of the crime in an oral statement. He later told the police that the firearms could be found in a river near his home. The police were able to retrieve two weapons: a 9mm semiautomatic pistol and a .357 revolver.
The confession of Leonardo Franqui also was admitted. The events of the crime described by Franqui were very similar to the confession of Pablo San Martin. Franqui admitted to carrying a .357 revolver, and an expert was able to determine that the bullet that killed Lopez came from a .357 revolver.
Source: Florida Commission on Capital Cases
On December 6, 1991, Danilo Cabanas, Sr., Danilo Cabanas, Jr., and Raul Lopez went to pick up $25,000 in cash from the bank for the check-cashing business owned by the Cabanas family. The men left the bank in two cars with Cabanas Sr. and Jr. riding in the first car and Lopez following in a truck.
On the Palmetto Expressway, the three men were “boxed in” by two Suburbans at a stoplight.
San Martin, and co-defendants, Pablo Abreu and Leonardo Franqui exited the Suburbans, and San Martin told the victims not to move. The men in the Suburbans fled the scene after an exchange of gunfire.
Lopez was then found to have been shot in the chest and was taken to the hospital, but he died shortly after arriving at the hospital.
San Martin confessed to his involvement in the planning and execution of the crime in an oral statement. He later told the police that the firearms could be found in a river near his home. The police were able to retrieve two weapons: a 9mm semiautomatic pistol and a .357 revolver.
The confession of Leonardo Franqui also was admitted. The events of the crime described by Franqui were very similar to the confession of Pablo San Martin. Franqui admitted to carrying a .357 revolver, and an expert was able to determine that the bullet that killed Lopez came from a .357 revolver.
Source: Florida Commission on Capital Cases
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