Bolivia attends shocked the case of Richard Choque Flores, of which new details are known every day. Choque confessed to killing at least three women and raping more than 70 after being arrested last week. His capture has also brought to light a network of corruption that supposedly affects judges for letting murderers go free. In November 2015, Choque was sentenced to 30 years in prison, the maximum Bolivian sentence, for the kidnapping and murder of a 20-year-old woman. Four years later, in December 2019, Judge Rafael Alcón allowed him house arrest through an express procedure for allegedly suffering from a terminal illness, which turned out to be false.
Once out of prison, Choque returned to his life of crime. Through social networks he contacted dozens of women, whom he raped. When he was finally recaptured, on January 24, he confessed that there were two bodies buried in an abandoned room in his house in the Ballivian neighborhood of the city of El Alto. This Thursday a third body was found in the house, which is believed to correspond to a 21-year-old who had been missing since 2009.
The story had a profound impact on the residents of this city, which borders La Paz, the administrative capital of Bolivia. A group of them, outraged that Choque’s mother and sister continued to live in the house, since the Prosecutor’s Office had not sealed the house, set a fire at the door to force them to leave through the smoke. After the intervention of the firemen, the relatives of the defendant managed to escape. The police also did not seal off the house at the time, so some neighbors went in and removed potential evidence, such as women’s underwear and jewelry.
For four days, the house was visited by curious people and relatives of missing women, who were looking for some evidence to find their loved ones. The neighbors had to organize themselves to protect the house from vandal attacks, but when they did it was too late. The walls had been covered with graffiti and everything was messy and half burned when the Prosecutor’s Office finally entered the crime scene.
Politicians joined in the bewilderment. The mayor of El Alto, Eva Copa, brought heavy machinery to the site to demolish the house, allegedly to find more bodies, but the judicial authorities dissuaded her, believing that there are no more bodies there and because “evidence must be protected.” .
Join EL PAÍS to follow all the news and read without limits.
subscribe
What has caused the greatest outrage has been the judicial corruption that allowed a 36-year-old prisoner, with a murder conviction, to leave prison only by presenting a false medical certificate. The law allows the terminally ill to be released, but for this they must be over 60 years old and follow a procedure that is very cumbersome. Judge Alcón allowed it during his vacation and just three days after the inmate made his request, which has been described as an “express release.” In addition, he did not notify the victim’s family, which is mandatory.
Alcón was arrested at the request of the Government, which considers that he has acted in the same way several times, granting releases in exchange for money. It is assumed that he enjoyed impunity because his brother was the head of the body responsible for monitoring judicial integrity, a position from which he was dismissed a few months ago. A complaint alleges that in the First Criminal Execution Court of La Paz, where Alcón worked, there is a network of judges and administrative officials who have freed more than a dozen murderers of women and other dangerous criminals. Further indictments and arrests are awaited.
Richard Choque lured his victims through Facebook. He offered them money in exchange for sex work or, in other cases, courier services. This is how he managed to put them in hotels, where he drugged them and then, posing as a policeman, threatened to arrest them if they did not have sexual relations with him. One of these women was the one who denounced him and led to his capture. After apprehending him, the police checked his cell phone and found messages related to two missing women. Choque confessed that he had killed them and that their bodies were buried in his house.
Lucy, 17, had been declared missing in May last year. Shock had kidnapped her. For weeks he texted the teen’s family to try to get $70,000. It is not known if she was still alive or not at the time. According to press reports, Choque sent the following message to Iris’s family: “I’m leaving you some photos of people who broke our rules. If you go to the Police with this message, we will take other measures. Comply with the agreement to have your loved one return, ”he wrote in a message that accompanied photos of dismembered corpses. According to Lucy’s mother, the police did little to find her.
The same thing happened with Iris, 15, who disappeared in August 2021. The photos, however, were different this time. It showed the teenager alive and tied up on a bed. Nor were sufficient investigations made to find the kidnapper. The two young women came from low-income families, so the police do not believe that the motivation for the crimes was economic.
The famous Bolivian feminist María Galindo declared that justice tends to allow the murderers of women to leave prison soon, as if it considered that such crimes are minor. This Monday, marches were held by feminist groups to protest violence against women and children. Complaints for these crimes are almost half of all those made to the police each year. According to an official survey, 50% of single women and 70% of married women have suffered some kind of violence from their partners throughout their lives.
Subscribe here to the EL PAÍS América newsletter and receive all the key information on current affairs in the region
#murderer #released #judge #Bolivia #kills #women #commits #dozens #rapes