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Oscar Diaz Romero, a 47-year-old El Salvador resident, has been found guilty of a brutal double murder that took place in 1997 at the Las Rocas restaurant in Washington DC. On August 9, 1997, Diaz Romero and several friends got into a fist fight with another group of young men at the restaurant, which escalated into a deadly shooting. Diaz Romero pulled out a revolver and fired several times, killing 21-year-old Jose Roberto Molina and 22-year-old Jose Noel Coreas.
The defendant fled the scene and the country, but was eventually arrested in El Salvador in 2024 and extradited to the United States in January 2025. Diaz Romero was found guilty of two counts of second-degree murder on March 25, 2026, and is scheduled to be sentenced on June 5, 2026.
The case was investigated by the Metropolitan Police Department and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Dennis Clark and Richard Carlton. US Attorney Jeanine F. Pirro announced the verdict, stating that it reflects the justice system’s commitment to pursuing accountability, regardless of how much time has passed.
Diaz Romero’s guilty verdict serves as a reminder that justice can be delayed, but not denied. The victims’ families have finally received some measure of closure, nearly three decades after the tragic event.