Seattle Couple Set on Fire by Uncle While Visiting Puerto Rico
- Posted on January 6, 2011 at 9:38am by
Jonathon M. Seidl
- Print »
- Email »
A Seattle man has died, and his fiance is in critical condition, after his uncle set fire to the family during dinner while vacationing in Puerto Rico.
Jesus Sanchez and his fiance Kate Donohue were vacationing in Puerto Rico and were invited to a dinner in their honor at one of Sanchez‘s uncle’s house. After the couple and other families sat down, that’s when the uncle, Sanchez Diaz, entered the room, poured gasoline on the family, and set them on fire.
KING-TV reports:
The two went to Puerto Rico so Kate could meet her fiance’s family. No one could have imagined the horror that unfolded over a family dinner.
The blaze occurred Saturday in the central Puerto Rican mountain town of Florida, where suspect Justino Sanchez Diaz, 45, lives in a two-story house with his parents and a sister, police Lt. Reinaldo Jimenez said.
Sanchez Diaz had doused the walls of the house with gasoline and set canisters filled with fuel under the dining room table and other furniture, he said.
“He planned the party so that everyone would show up,” Jimenez said.
As soon as the 14 people sat down for an early dinner on Jan. 1, Sanchez Diaz emerged from his room armed with a 20-pound container of propane gas and then doused them with kerosene, Jimenez said witnesses told police.
Sanchez Diaz then set them on fire using a stick wrapped with a towel soaked in fuel, Jimenez said.
Heidi Robles, identified as one of the suspect’s nieces, told the newspaper Primera Hora that several relatives ran out of the house on fire and that neighbors used hoses to try to put out the flames.
The couple had been engaged for only a few months and were planning a summer wedding in Seattle.
This is not the first time Sanchez Diaz set fire to a building. KING says he burned down his brother’s hen house about five years ago. After the latest pyromaniac attack, he was found soaking in the house’s bathtub. Police have charged him with murder.
Donohue is in critical condition at the University of Miami hospital with burns on 80 percent of her body.
“He is going to pay for this,” one of Sanchez Diaz’s relatives said.
Popular Stories
Paper Details Obama Admin’s Alleged Secret Note Sent to Iran: If Israel Attacks, We Won’t Get Involved 584 Comments
‘Made Up Religion’: TV Historian Enrages Muslims, Receives Threats After Producing UK Documentary Questioning Islam’s Beginnings 413 Comments
This Is the Creationists‘ Response to Scientist Bill Nye’s Viral Pro-Evolution Video Claiming They Harm Children 411 Comments
Roseanne Barr: Most Billionaires ‘Violent Pedophiles’ & ‘Heartless’ Cocaine Addicts 374 Comments
President Obama Issues Major ‘Green Energy’ Executive Order 368 Comments
Faith
- This Is the Creationists‘ Response to Scientist Bill Nye’s Viral Pro-Evolution Video Claiming They Harm Children 411 Comments
Pakistani Muslim Cleric Accused of Framing Disabled Christian Girl in Koran-Burning Case Read More- ‘Made Up Religion’: TV Historian Enrages Muslims, Receives Threats After Producing UK Documentary Questioning Islam’s Beginnings 413 Comments
Meet the Controversial German Imam Accused of Brutally Beating His Wife & Pushing Sharia Law Read More
‘Self-Proclaimed Messiah’ & Unification Church Leader the Rev. Sun Myung Moon Has Died — Here’s His Life Story Read More
Business
- President Obama Issues Major ‘Green Energy’ Executive Order 368 Comments
- Germany’s Upcoming Court Ruling Will be Huge for the EU Read More
Ford Looks to Beat Toyota for Best-Selling Car in 2012 With This Model 151 Comments
Bernanke & QE3: Here’s What You Need to Know Read More- ‘Extortion’: Why Did the Labor Department ‘Drop the Hammer’ on Oregon Farmers? 302 Comments
Technology
- This Is the Creationists‘ Response to Scientist Bill Nye’s Viral Pro-Evolution Video Claiming They Harm Children 411 Comments
‘TaserDrone’: Hackers Weaponize Quadcopter With Actual ‘Shocking’ Technology Read More
Ever Heard of the Wild ‘Burning Man’ Festival in the Middle of the Nev. Desert? Here’s Your Primer Read More
Stanford Develops Technology ‘Better Than Steroids’ for Athlete Recovery Read More
Have You Pretended to Know What ‘the Cloud’ Is? You’re Not Alone Read More
Submitting your tip... please wait!
Comments (79)
Sgt.Crust
Posted on January 6, 2011 at 11:03amMy prayers go to the family! And here we have a retread of 45 years of age, still living with his parents, nuff said!?
Report Post »jedi.kep
Posted on January 6, 2011 at 11:00amPunishment should fit the crime. Soak him in gasoline and light the match.
Report Post »Cacique
Posted on January 6, 2011 at 10:56amI’m terribly sorry for the actions of one idiot in my country! We’re generally very hospitable people!
Report Post »Country Momma
Posted on January 6, 2011 at 10:51amThis is just terrible!! What in the world goes in in peoples minds to make them actually plan an go through with something like this? Just awful, poor girl, I can’t even begin to imagine her pain.. Thots an prayers for the family.
Report Post »lasthouseontheright
Posted on January 6, 2011 at 10:50amObviously this man is mentally ill, and really didn’t want to buy a wedding present. On the bright side, mom fanally got Sanches, the crazy brother out of the house. Of course, all kidding aside, I wish all who were injured a speedy recovery and send my prayers to the family.
Report Post »cheezhedsluvtaxes
Posted on January 6, 2011 at 10:48amKerosene stinks! What were these people thinking when they sat down at a table with the whole house smelling like an oil refinery? Ah, just that kooky Uncle Sanchaz?
Report Post »PhantomsPhorever
Posted on January 6, 2011 at 10:45amEveryone has that idiot uncle/or brother in law. I guess I should feel fortunate, I only have to listen to what a moron I am because I listen to Glenn Beck. At least no one has burst into flames. Sometimes his burger falls on the patio where the cat lays. Hey, I’m no saint.
Report Post »AzDebi
Posted on January 6, 2011 at 10:39amBurns…there is absolutely NOTHING worse than BURNS…AND…fueled by kerosene…
Report Post »apollo18
Posted on January 6, 2011 at 10:34amThere is no punishment I can think of, that would be suitable (or moral) for that behavior. Turn him over to the family? Or hers? A quick and painless needle? Life in prison? Does PR have an insanity defense? “Eye-for-an-eye?” That’s why “Vengeance is mine, says the Lord”. God hates “shedders of innocent blood”. Dante’s going to need another circle in hell for this “thing”.
Report Post »Love Bandit Bestid
Posted on January 6, 2011 at 10:25amA nice WHITE girl gets mixed up with 3rd world voodoo scum.
Let this be a lesson for all you white girls.
Cacique
Posted on January 6, 2011 at 10:52amI would certainly wouldn’t like to be on your one branch family tree! Blah, blah, blah!!
Report Post »keith p
Posted on January 6, 2011 at 11:50amWhy do you come to this site?
Report Post »theduchessofkitty
Posted on January 6, 2011 at 4:16pmA nice white man married me, a Puerto Rican woman. A happy decade and a half, so far, with two beautiful children. Yet, according to you, I’m “voodoo scum”…
You’re a scumbag and a racist. I’m sure the vast majority here agree with me.
Report Post »RugDog
Posted on January 6, 2011 at 5:01pmTroll.
Report Post »NHdriver
Posted on January 6, 2011 at 6:06pmAre you a liberal trying to make Glenn Beck’s audience look bad? Are you one of those idiots that don‘t know that PR’s are American citizens?
Report Post »maxstout
Posted on January 6, 2011 at 10:18amNo bueno, gringo female defiling Puerto Rican family.
Keep bloodline pure, kill infidels of racial impurity!
Mikee T
Posted on January 6, 2011 at 10:31amUh….I think somewhere along the line “acute pyschosis” of some kind is responsible……along with NO GOD FEARING FAITH present with this criminal sick mind……and references about racial / ethnic cleansing are not really necessary and in bad taste……joke or not….
Report Post »Avidmonkey
Posted on January 6, 2011 at 10:17amI don‘t understand how they didn’t smell the gas fumes in the house and realize he was
up to something…especially if he had a history of arson.
Horrible story, though. Prayers for the family and Ms. Donohue.
Report Post »Paul G
Posted on January 6, 2011 at 11:52amThat’s what I was thinking..”Sanchez Diaz had doused the walls of the house with gasoline and set canisters filled with fuel under the dining room table and other furniture, he said.”
Report Post »Ummmm…something doesn’t smell right………….with this story.
MadeInAmerica
Posted on January 6, 2011 at 12:34pmMust have been some damn good cooking to cover up the smell of fuel all over the house.
Report Post »Tagudinian
Posted on January 6, 2011 at 10:15amThis story is not worthy of The Blaze (no pun intended). This is Enquirer material.
dontbotherme
Posted on January 6, 2011 at 10:37pmWhat is wrong with you?
Report Post »demsaredumb
Posted on January 7, 2011 at 12:01amWhat do you expect when the Blaze hires huffies from the huffington post?
Report Post »NFYRx
Posted on January 6, 2011 at 10:15amLike Tony Montana said, “I don’t trust no Puerto Rican.” Or was it Columbians?
Report Post »new englander
Posted on January 6, 2011 at 10:14amJesus and his fiancee were friends of our son. This unspeakable horror makes one wonder where the real ‘justice’ is in this world.
Report Post »Rest in peace Jesus, and our prayers are with the families and with Kate. God help us all,
dontbotherme
Posted on January 6, 2011 at 10:38pmI’m sorry for your loss. God bless your family.
Report Post »NHdriver
Posted on January 6, 2011 at 10:10amInstant death penalty for this jerk! Don’t give him another chance. He’s useless!
Report Post »NFYRx
Posted on January 6, 2011 at 9:57amWhen you‘re a Jet you’re a Jet all the way…
Report Post »NFYRx
Posted on January 6, 2011 at 9:56amPerhaps he was disrespected by, or kicked out of the Sharks and this was an initiation into the Jets.
Report Post »Voronin
Posted on January 6, 2011 at 9:51amTry and tell me we shouldn’t have the death penalty…
Report Post »Psytoxic
Posted on January 6, 2011 at 10:00amWhether or not we have the death penalty is irrelevant in this case. This took place in Puerto Rico.
Report Post »CatB
Posted on January 6, 2011 at 10:37amPuerto Rico is a Commonwealth Associated with the United States ..
Puerto Rico, officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is an unincorporated territory of the United States.
Report Post »Cacique
Posted on January 6, 2011 at 10:46amNo death penalty in PR :-( I guess the line would be around the island a few times!
Report Post »taskmaster78
Posted on January 6, 2011 at 9:47amThe dead give away is he’s 45 and still lives with his parents. The minute the moron came into the room they should have brought him to the ground.
Report Post »Cacique
Posted on January 6, 2011 at 10:44amAgree!!
Report Post »Wornout
Posted on January 6, 2011 at 9:47amMy prayers go out to the families of these two people. How sad.
Report Post »Major Infidel
Posted on January 6, 2011 at 9:47amWhat a heart warming story.
HairyMark
Posted on January 6, 2011 at 9:47amWhy?
Report Post »N37BU6
Posted on January 6, 2011 at 9:52pmHe sure has a fiery temper, doesn’t he?
Worst. Toast. Ever.
Report Post »taskmaster78
Posted on January 6, 2011 at 9:46amThis man was a loser
Report Post »TennesseeConservative
Posted on January 6, 2011 at 10:01amSounds like a good candidate for the exorcist channel. Pure evil.
Report Post »mtnclimberjim
Posted on January 6, 2011 at 10:16amHe didn’t want the libs in his family to reproduce. I’m sorry for that comment, sort of.
snowleopard3200 {cat folk art}
Posted on January 6, 2011 at 10:29amThis man was sick, pure and simple. To set fire to ones own family and relatives is pure evil and pure madness on the highest of orders. My prayers go to the family survivors, and those in the hospital for a swift and full recovery.
May justice also be carried out swiftly, and in fair accordance to the law.
Report Post »Thombob
Posted on January 6, 2011 at 10:33amPure Evil.
Report Post »JESUS-IS-LORD
Posted on January 6, 2011 at 11:33amYes I am puerto rican, however I do not make this claim often. My people have suffered a lot since the island was raped by the Spaniards and then the USA. This is not a complete surprise to me. Envy kills. Praise be to the Holy God our Father. Amen.
Report Post »TheBMT
Posted on January 6, 2011 at 11:56amEvil
Report Post »davuf
Posted on January 6, 2011 at 12:27pmTo Jesus is Lord
I grew up in PR and I consider it my home. If by ‘raped by America’ you mean getting free services from the US Federal Government for over a 100 years then I guess you are right. Also keep in mind how many ballets the Puerto Rican’s have cast voting to remain a common wealth. Look around the Caribbean again and tell me how exactly PR is suffering from being part of the United States.
Report Post »RabidPatriot
Posted on January 6, 2011 at 12:28pmLoser? Losers don’t set their families on fire. This guy is a homicidal maniac. Surviving family members and neighbors should have threw him back in the house.
Report Post »River0
Posted on January 6, 2011 at 1:05pmPeople capable of doing horrific things don’t just appear in an instant. They have histories. How many danger signs and smaller crimes – such as animal cruelty – were ignored by parents, friends and neighbors?
Psychological factors can’t explain horrific behavior like this. There‘s another force at work which we don’t yet understand; or, more accurately, have forgotten how to understand. It used to be called “possession” until Freud came along to blame sexual repression and other absurd factors.
Report Post »Mikeyyy
Posted on January 6, 2011 at 1:43pmhe needs to go to Hell in a bobsled.
Report Post »Dilbert is Real
Posted on January 6, 2011 at 3:59pmThey found him in a bathtub? How did he have time to get there? Gasoline is way too combustible for this story to make any sense. If there was that much gasoline, there wouldn’t have been a house left, much less an intact bathroom with a tub full of water.
Also, if he set fire to his brother’s house five years ago, why is he hosting a family gathering? Who would go?
Report Post »GeauxAlready
Posted on January 6, 2011 at 9:46amThat is just sick. Wonder if he is a Union member?
dogday
Posted on January 7, 2011 at 2:24amThat comment about being a member of a union was very inappropriate. However, I really liked it!
Report Post »billypol
Posted on January 7, 2011 at 10:50pmNah, He can’t be a union member. Too efficient and just 1 guy did all the labor.
Report Post »