The Justice of Ecuador began this Tuesday the trial for the murder of the then presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio, at the hands of hitmen on August 9, 2023, eleven days before the first round of the extraordinary general elections were held.
According to the criteria of
The hearing, in which the head of a faction of the powerful drug gang Los Lobos is tried, takes place at the North Judicial Complex, during which Testimonies have been presented from the experts who lifted the body of the politician and the gunman who shot him and that he died in a subsequent confrontation with bodyguards.
On August 9, 2023, Colombian hitmen murdered Villavicencio, an investigative journalist who had uncovered several corruption scandals that splashed high government authorities, when leaving a campaign rally in Quito prior to the early elections for which he was a favorite.
Six people were arrested for the crime, but were murdered in prison. Later, the Prosecutor’s Office arrested another seven, of which one was acquitted and another died. Among those detained is Carlos A., identified as the leader of a Los Lobos cell in the Ecuadorian capital.
This is how the first day of the hearing for the murder of Fernando Villavicencio goes
In presenting the facts at the trial hearing this Tuesday, The Prosecutor’s Office recalled that the attackers shot and injured 14 people, including Villavicencio, 3 police officers, political activists and a person who was traveling in a vehicle.
At the hearing, a video was also presented with the advance testimony of a protected witness who narrated his participation in previous planning meetings, but not in the assassination of the person who was a candidate for the Ecuadorian presidency.
In the version he pointed out that one of those involved in the crime would have told him days after the murder that “that head (Fernando Villavicencio’s) was worth $200,000.” and the Correa Government ordered it to be done,” published the Primicias portal.
Former president Rafael Correa, who governed Ecuador between 2007 and 2017, reacted on his X social network account to the publication of Primicias: “It’s about time… The same formula: protected and anonymous ‘witness’. Anyway…”.
The Prosecutor’s Office recalled that after the attack Villavicencio was transferred to a clinic, where his death was confirmed, while the attackers fled with the exception of one, “who was neutralized at the scene and transferred to the flagrante delicto unit, where his death was confirmed.” death”.
He added that the Police raided a home in Quito where they arrested six people for their alleged participation in the crime: Andrés M., José L., Adey G., Camilo R., Jules C. and Jhon R., now deceased, for which extinguished the criminal action against them.
The investigations determined the alleged participation of seven other people, who were arrested: Carlos A., Laura C. Erick R., Alfonso F., Alexandra Ch., José M. (deceased) and another citizen who was dismissed, the Prosecutor’s Office added.
He pointed out that Carlos A. alias “invisible”, considered the direct perpetrator, would be a member of the criminal group called ‘Los Lobos’. and on the day of the murder he was held in prison.
“Through a cell phone, he gave the order to Johan C. (deceased) to execute the shots,” indicated the Public Ministry, adding that Laura C. would have been in charge of the logistics, and Alexandra Ch. would be an accomplice because she sent information from inside the site where Villavicencio was leading the political rally.
On this first day, the defense of alias ‘Invisible’ expressed that the telephone from which the information that links his client to the case has been extracted is contaminated, since from the beginning of the case the proper chain of custody was not complied with, Firstfruits narrated.
For his part, the doctor who conducted the hearing on Villavicencio’s body reported that he had two holes caused by a firearm projectile in the left parietal region. And, according to the local newspaper El Universo, the expert said that “the cause of death was head trauma from a firearm” and that the shot was fired at a long distance (at least a meter or more away).
At the trial hearing, installed on the fourth attempt and under a strong security device, Hugo Espin, lawyer for Villavicencio’s wife, Verónica Sarauz, also recalled that seven of the defendants were murdered. “We have always had the concern that the investigation was quite biased towards the execution of the crime, not the intellectual authorship,” he commented.
And he asserted that they will now review “within the versions and within the different presentations that will be made, precisely how far we should take an investigation and, eventually, we have already analyzed the presentation of a different complaint that makes a meta case.”
The assassinated political leader was participating in the extraordinary elections called after the then head of state, Guillermo Lasso, dissolved Parliament and called for elections, in which Daniel Noboa finally triumphed in the second round.
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