A former Fairfax County detective testified in a 1997 murder trial before DC Superior Court Judge Todd Edelman on March 19, stating that he traveled to El Salvador in 1999 before extraditions were legal to locate the defendant.
Oscar Diaz-Romero, 47, is charged with two counts of second-degree murder for his alleged involvement in the fatal shooting of 27-year-old Jose Molina and 22-year-old Jose Noel Coreas-Carcamo in a restaurant on the 2400 block of 18th Street, NW on Aug. 9, 1997. Diaz- Romero was extradited from El Salvador in 2025.
The former Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) lead detective in the case testified that multiple witnesses present at the scene identified Diaz-Romero as the suspect in a photo lineup following the incident. The former MPD detective said that at least five different witnesses were shown a photo lineup and identified Diaz-Romero as the shooter.
According to court documents, some of these witnesses described the shooter as wearing a Miami Dolphins football jersey. On cross-examination, the former detective said that no jersey was recovered after a search of Diaz-Romero’s residence.
The former detective also said Diaz-Romero was allegedly a member of the “Mara Pershing” gang, a group based around Pershing Avenue in Arlington.
An eyewitness who identified Diaz-Romero in 1997 to the former detective in a photo lineup also testified.
While the prosecution focused on confirming the eyewitness’ identification, defense attorney Destiny Fullwood-Singh pressed the witness on whether he had ever asked the prosecution to write a letter to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on his behalf. The eyewitness denied this.
A former detective from the Fairfax Police Department also testified to having provided aid to MPD detectives working the case in the 1990s. The former Fairfax detective said he provided MPD with an identification of Diaz-Romero and his nickname at the time, “Kiko,” adding he primarily worked with MPD to secure a search warrant for Diaz-Romero’s former address.
The former Fairfax detective confirmed that before 2000, extraditions from El Salvador were not allowed. However, he said he traveled to El Salvador in 1999 to verify if suspects in his cases were living there. The prosecution displayed a photo showing him and Diaz-Romero together during this trip.
The prosecution also called a witness from the United States Marshals Service (USMS) who recounted retrieving Diaz-Romero from custody in El Salvador.
The trial is scheduled to resume on March 23.
