Dominican Republic Officials Identify Man Who Allegedly Paid For Hit On David Ortiz

Prosecutors in the Dominican Republic identified several new suspects yesterday in the David Ortiz shooting case, including the man they say planned to pay the hitmen who shot Ortiz at the Dial Bar and Lounge on June 9. Court documents obtained by the claim Alberto Miguel Rodríguez Mota planned to pay the hitmen $7,800, and that Gabriel Alexánder Pérez Vizcaíno was the liaison between Mota and the people who shot Ortiz.

Mota was charged with attempted murder in absentia, since he hasn’t been arrested. Pérez was charged in court on Monday, and prosecutors say he and Mota met at a bar in Santo Domingo one week before the shooting to plan the job. Mota and Pérez were allegedly introduced by Jose Eduardo Ciprian, who was in prison at the time because of an unrelated case. Ciprian faces charges stemming from the Ortiz shooting after he apparently sent Mota a picture of the target.

It’s not yet clear whether the assassins were trying to kill Ortiz or someone else, as Ortiz’s shooter Rolfi Ferreras Cruz claims he was going after someone else, nor do authorities have an idea of who the mastermind behind the plot was. They have identified Carlos Rafael Álvarez, Oliver Moises Mirabel Acosta, Luis Alfredo Rivas Clase, Maria Fernanda Villasmil Manzanilla, and Marcos Diaz as other suspects involved in the case, and while they have a narrative of events on the night of June 9, they have not established a motive.

Pérez allegedly received a gold iPhone on the day of the shooting that had pictures of “the person they were going to liquidate.” He met with the hit squad at a gas station near the bar and showed them the photos before later selling the phone for $180 in an attempt to hide evidence of the crime from police.

Orti’z wife Tiffany released a statement today on her husband’s condition, which has been upgraded to “good.”