EL SALVADOR · JUSTICE

A court in San Salvador has pushed the Jesuit trial over the 1989 massacre to Monday, 5 April 2027. One accused, a colonel the United States sent to Spain in 2017, also faces charges at home for three killings.

The Jesuit trial in El Salvador slipped again on Wednesday, 14 October, with a US-extradited colonel among the accused. The court reset the opening for Monday, 5 April 2027, after two retired generals did not appear, citing illness.

The 1989 killings at the Central American University in San Salvador left six Jesuit priests and two women dead. Colonel Inocente Orlando Montano lived in Massachusetts before the United States extradited him to Spain in 2017.

Why the Jesuit Trial Was Postponed

The Fourth Sentencing Court of San Salvador, the trial court for the case, met on Wednesday to open the proceedings. Retired generals Rafael Humberto Larios López and Juan Rafael Bustillo Toledo did not attend, and their lawyers cited illness.

The judges asked the Institute of Forensic Medicine to check whether the illness justifies their absence. If not, El Mundo says they will be declared in default; Diario El Salvador reports a request to lift their release terms.

Francisco Garay Pineda, defence lawyer for Colonel Manuel Rivas, says the 1998 criminal procedure code bars a trial without every defendant present. One absence is enough to stop it, he said, El Mundo reports.

This is the third postponement of the trial, El Mundo and the EFE news agency report. The Monday, 20 July date had already slipped because Spain had not answered a request to notify Montano, El Mundo reports.

The Massacre and the Eleven Defendants

In the early hours of Thursday, 16 November 1989, Atlacatl Battalion soldiers entered the Central American University (UCA) in San Salvador. They killed six Jesuit priests, their cook Elba Ramos and her daughter Celina, the UN Truth Commission found.

Ignacio Ellacuría, the university’s rector since 1979, was among the dead. Five of the six priests were Spanish, and the sixth, Joaquín López y López, and the two women were Salvadoran.

Eleven people are charged in the case, which Salvadoran prosecutors filed in February 2022 after a 2020 closure was overturned. They include former president Alfredo Cristiani, former military officers, and former lawmaker Rodolfo Parker.

Cristiani, president at the time of the killings, is charged as an indirect perpetrator of murder by omission. Eduardo Cardoza, lawyer for Gen. Larios López, calls the case political, and no Salvadoran verdict exists yet.

Plaza Libertad in the historic centre of San Salvador, the capital where the trial is held. The photo does not show the court or the case. Photo: Lexdjelectronic2013 / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)

How a US Extradition Shaped the Case

Montano, a colonel and deputy public security minister in 1989, later lived in Everett, Massachusetts. ICE, the US immigration agency, says a federal court sentenced him in 2013 to 21 months for immigration fraud and perjury.

The Justice Department sought his extradition in North Carolina in 2015, and a magistrate approved it in February 2016. The United States handed him to Spain in November 2017 to face charges over the five Spanish priests.

Because the extradition covered only the five Spanish victims, Spain’s National Court could not convict him of the three Salvadoran deaths. ICE says the Spanish court explained this limit, and Just Security, a US legal site, calls it the specialty principle.

Salvadoran prosecutors now charge Montano as an indirect perpetrator of those three killings, El Mundo reports. They are the priest Joaquín López y López, the cook Elba Ramos and her daughter Celina.

Spain convicted him in September 2020 of five murders, with sentences above 133 years in total. In August 2026 Spain’s National Court granted him conditional release for ill health, EFE, El Mundo and Infovaticana report.

What It Means for US Readers

The case has US links through Montano, whose 2013 US conviction and 2017 extradition led to his 2020 conviction in Spain. Former Massachusetts congressman Joseph Moakley took part in a 1990 investigation that blamed the Salvadoran army, WBUR notes.

The postponement changes nothing for travel to El Salvador or for US trade with it. For context on the country, see the El Salvador explainer and the profile of President Nayib Bukele.

The 37th anniversary of the killings falls on Monday, 16 November 2026, before the trial opens. Visitors to the capital can read the El Salvador safety guide for travel background.

What Is Not Known

The court has not said whether Montano has been formally notified of the trial. The Spanish ruling on his release cites significant cognitive decline, so his ability to take part is unclear.

The Institute of Forensic Medicine has not published findings on the two generals’ health claims. The outlets also differ on what absence would bring, default status or loss of release terms.

No separate Judicial Branch statement on the delay had appeared by Thursday, 15 October, so outlets relay what was said in court. Outlets name the two absent generals, but none lists everyone who attended the hearing.

What Comes Next

The trial is due to open on Monday, 5 April 2027, and defence lawyers say every defendant must attend. Before then, the Institute of Forensic Medicine must assess the two generals’ health claims.

The court refused to split Parker’s case, which prosecutors also opposed, although he sits in another hearing until 30 October. The postponement does not end the case or decide any defendant’s guilt.

Frequently Asked Questions

What happened in El Salvador’s Jesuit trial on 14 October?

The Fourth Sentencing Court of San Salvador postponed the trial to Monday, 5 April 2027. Two retired generals did not attend, citing illness.

Who was killed in the 1989 Jesuit massacre?

Six Jesuit priests, a cook and her daughter were killed at the Central American University on 16 November 1989. Five of the priests were Spanish.

Who is Inocente Orlando Montano?

He is a former Salvadoran colonel and deputy security minister who lived in Massachusetts. The United States extradited him to Spain in 2017, and Spain convicted him of five murders in 2020.

Why does a US extradition matter in this case?

The United States extradited Montano only for the five Spanish victims, so Spain could not convict him of the three Salvadoran deaths. Salvadoran prosecutors now charge him over those three.

Who else is charged?

Former president Alfredo Cristiani and nine others are charged, including former military officers and former lawmaker Rodolfo Parker. No Salvadoran verdict has been reached.

When will the trial begin?

The court set the opening for Monday, 5 April 2027. Defence lawyers say the 1998 procedure code requires every defendant to be present.

Sources: La Prensa Gráfica, 14 October; El Mundo, 14 October; Diario El Salvador, 14 October; EFE via Infobae, 14 October; Salvadoran Judicial Branch, 5 January 2022; EFE via El Diario de Hoy, Montano release, 17 August; Infovaticana, Montano release, 20 August; ICE, extradition to Spain; ICE, Spanish conviction; WBUR, 29 November 2017; Just Security, 11 September 2020 (all accessed 15 October 2026).