Pubdate: Fri, 03 Dec 2004
Source: Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, FL)
Copyright: 2004 Sun-Sentinel Company
Contact:  http://www.sun-sentinel.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/159
Author: Ihosvani Rodriguez, Miami Bureau
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/coke.htm (Cocaine)

INVESTIGATORS: SUSPECT BLAMES COCAINE BINGE IN TRIPLE HOMICIDE

With a video camera capturing his every word, Rafael Chang told police
he was on a cocaine binge when earlier this week he shot and killed
his parents and grandmother as they slept inside their west Miami-Dade
County home, court documents reveal.

According to a statement police used to obtain an arrest warrant that
was released Thursday, investigators largely relied on Chang's own
words to build a case against him.

He is charged with three counts of first-degree murder for the
shooting deaths of his parents, Enrique and Teresa Chang and his
grandmother, Antonia Manso.

Chang, 41, was booked into the Miami-Dade County Jail late Wednesday,
where he is being held without bond inside of a single cell on the
mental health floor for precautionary reasons, said jail spokeswoman
Janelle Hall.

Chang told two Miami-Dade police homicide detectives that the episode
began about 7 p.m. Monday in Miami Beach, where he ripped through an
undisclosed amount of cocaine, the statement said.

Three hours later, Chang arrived at the three-bedroom home he shared
with his parents. Inside, his father, 63, and his mother, 62, slept in
separate rooms. Manso, 85, was in hers.

Chang told police he then went to a closet, pulled out his father's
handgun and shot each family member once in the head as they slept.
Chang then drove to Tavernier where he hid overnight in a family-owned
vacation trailer, the document said.

He did not explain why he became enraged enough to kill three members
of his family.

The next morning, the Changs' 32-year-old daughter, Maria Alonso,
arrived at her parents' home to drop off her child for the day. The
front gate was locked, so Alonso borrowed a key from a neighbor and
walked inside the home, only to discover the bloodied body of her
mother on a couch inside the family room.

Unaware that her father and grandmother also were shot in other rooms,
Alonso scrambled outside to call police.

Police said they found the gun used in the slayings resting on a bed
next to the father's body.

As police began their investigation, Chang walked into the Monroe
County Public Defender's office, claimed responsibility and asked for
an attorney. Two Miami-Dade detectives flew to Plantation Key, where
they videotaped Chang's confession, police said.

Chang is being held without bond. On Thursday, his court-appointed
attorney, Miami-Dade Assistant Public Defender Edith Georgi,
questioned the interrogators' actions.

Police have said Chang freely gave his story without an attorney. But
Georgi says Chang was appointed an attorney in Monroe County hours
before he was questioned.

"My understanding is that his public defender in Monroe last saw Chang
getting on a helicopter that was headed to the jail in Miami," Georgi
said. "Next thing we know, he's somewhere in the Keys giving a
confession. What? Did they get lost? He obviously was looking for an
attorney. Why did he change his mind?"

Police spokeswoman Nelda Fonticiella declined to address Georgi's
comments, saying the case is now in the hands of the court system.

"This is what these lawyers are paid to do. We're not going to get
into this he said she situation with them," Fonticiella said. "We'll
let them make these questions in court."
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MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin