Defender set in 5 airport killings

Has $5 or $10, suspect tells judge, who taps public lawyer

People line up Monday at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in Florida, the scene of a mass shooting last week.
People line up Monday at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in Florida, the scene of a mass shooting last week.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- The Iraq war veteran held in the fatal shooting of five people inside Fort Lauderdale's airport was appointed a federal public defender on Monday after telling a judge that he has no job and only $5 or $10 in the bank.

Esteban Santiago, 26, spoke clearly during a brief hearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Alicia Valle, who ordered him held until his next hearings.

During the hearing, Assistant U.S. Attorney Ricardo Del Toro had said prosecutors wanted Santiago detained without bail while the case is pending.

Shackled in a red jumpsuit in the heavily guarded federal courtroom, Santiago answered mostly yes or no to questions and told the judge he understands the charges, committing violence against people at an international airport resulting in death, and two firearms offenses.

She told him the death penalty could apply.

"We are telling you the maximum penalty allowed by law so that you understand the seriousness of the charges," the judge said.

He said he had been in the Army, where he made about $15,000 a year. He mentioned expenses including $560 in monthly rent, plus phone and other utility bills. He said he owns no property and doesn't have a vehicle. He said he had worked for a security company, Signal 88, in Anchorage, Alaska, until November, making $2,100 a month, but currently only had $5 to $10 in the bank.

Given his finances, the judge decided he's eligible for government lawyers at taxpayer expense.

Robert Berube, an assistant federal public defender, was appointed to represent Santiago. The two spoke briefly during the hearing, whispering as they huddled next to each other.

Berube said he had just met his client in court for the first time.

"There is a time and place to make a comment; this is not it," he told the Sun Sentinel.

Valle set a detention hearing for Jan. 17, followed by an arraignment for entering a plea for Jan. 23.

More than a dozen officers kept watch outside the courthouse, carrying rifles and wearing bullet-resistant vests. There were also mounted police and K-9 units.

The charges don't specifically use the word murder, but the effects of one of the gun charges and the airport charge are the same because they cover actions that result in a person's death and can result in capital punishment, said former federal prosecutor David Weinstein.

"Under federal law, there are many statutes that cover the killing of another human being, and unlike state statutes, they are not specifically titled murder. But the elements of the crime and the definition of murder are the same," he said.

State authorities could file first-degree murder charges against Santiago, but that's unnecessary for now, Weinstein added, because there is no statute of limitations on murder. If something were to go wrong in federal court, the state could then proceed against him, he said.

No links to international terrorism have been found, the FBI has said. But if they surface, federal prosecutors could obtain an updated grand jury indictment to add terror-related charges, Weinstein added.

"Their focus right now will be on the existing three charges and the continuing investigation," he said.

Santiago has been in custody since Friday's shooting at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. The FBI said Santiago flew on a one-way ticket aboard a Delta flight from Anchorage to Fort Lauderdale. The 11½-hour flight has a 2½-hour layover in Minneapolis, one of the longest itineraries in the U.S.

He checked a single piece of luggage: a gun box for his Walther 9mm semi-automatic pistol and two magazines of ammunition, according to an FBI affidavit. Agents said he retrieved the box in baggage claim and loaded his weapon in a restroom stall before opening fire on fellow passengers, killing five and wounding six others.

In November, Santiago walked into an FBI field office in Alaska with a handgun and his infant child, saying the U.S. government was controlling his mind and forcing him to watch Islamic State group videos, authorities said.

Officers seized the weapon, and local officers took him to get a mental health evaluation.

Santiago told authorities, after his arrest, that doctors told him he may have schizophrenia, sources told the Sun Sentinel.

His girlfriend picked up the child. On Dec. 8, the gun was returned to Santiago. Authorities wouldn't say whether it was the same gun used in the airport attack.

Information for this article was contributed by Curt Anderson of The Associated Press; and by Paula McMahon of the Sun Sentinel.

A Section on 01/10/2017

Upcoming Events