Matson's Case No. 5

In another trip down memory lane, New York Chief of Police Robert Matson remembers the 1980's case of Oscar Ortiz, a Cuban-born national who arrived with the first wave of the Mariel boatlift people by order of Castro. Some of the boat people arriving with refugees were known criminals and the mentally ill who settled down in Miami, New York, and other American cities. Ortiz's case hit the headlines when he protested being denied his religious freedom. The New York Times story portrayed him as a victim having been prosecuted because of his Afro-Cuban religious beliefs, with no mention of his gruesome murders, extortions, and rapes, all committed in the name of his occult rituals. Matson wondered why the Times story never gave Ortiz his due and explained his crimes; instead making him into some kind of victim deserving of reverence. Detective Matson and his partner, Smith, had their work cut out for them to track down Ortiz and render justice for the young women he kidnapped and murdered. Matson has a moment when he explores his own beliefs while exploring the practices of Caribbean-African religions brought to these countries by slaves.