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                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, January 25, 1992                   TAG: 9201250038
SECTION: NATL/INTL                    PAGE: A-12   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: SAN SALVADOR, EL SALVADOR                                LENGTH: Short

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JESUITS' KILLERS SENTENCED

A judge on Friday sentenced an army colonel and a lieutenant to 30 years in prison, the maximum, in the 1989 massacre of six Jesuit priests, their housekeeper and her daughter.

The killings, viewed as one of the worst atrocities of El Salvador's 12-year war, sparked international outrage and prompted moves in Washington to slash aid to El Salvador. Some church officials contend the intellectual authors of the killings remain unprosecuted.

The decision came against the backdrop of efforts to heal the wounds of the 12-year civil war. The National Assembly voted Thursday night to grant amnesty for most politically motivated crimes committed during the 12-year civil war.

But the Jesuit massacre was specifically exempted from the amnesty.

Those sentenced to 30 years were Col. Guillermo Benavides and Lt. Yusshy Rene Mendoza. A jury last September found Benavides guilty of eight counts of murder for ordering the killings of the Jesuits. The jury found Mendoza guilty of one count of murder - that of 16-year-old Celina Ramos, the daughter of the priests' housekeeper.

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