A new drama of femicide mourns a Colombian family that, for the most part, resides in the area of Raleigh, in North Carolina (United States).
(Read here: Colombian would have been murdered by her ex-partner in the United States: what is known)
The case involves Liliana Conchanative of Medellinand who according to reports from the authorities would have been murdered in the early hours of this Tuesday by Gerardo Obando, a Guatemalan with whom Liliana had had a previous relationship.
EL TIEMPO spoke with Mauricio Conchabrother of the deceased and who also lives in this same area of the country.
According to Mauricio, the big priority right now is for the United States embassy to grant his mother a humanitarian visa so she can attend the funeral.
Colombian murdered in the United States.
“She lives on a farm and is the only one in the family who will not be able to arrive if they do not give her that visa. We ask the Colombian and American governments for help to allow us to be together in such a difficult time,” Mauricio told this newspaper.
According to the deceased's brother, Liliana had been living in the United States for more than 20 years and had a real estate business that she had founded with Obando.
Although the investigation continues, the same authorities have said that they are not looking for another suspect, since instead they found the lifeless bodies of Concha and Obando, the latter with a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
The big priority right now is for the US embassy to grant his mother a humanitarian visa so she can attend the funeral.
In addition, Obando – says Mauricio – had sent a text message to a family friend in which he told her that he planned to kill her and then commit suicide.
In the midst of his tremendous pain, Mauricio explained to this newspaper the nature of the relationship that Obando and Concha had and the reasons that, he believes, could have led him to commit the atrocious act.
According to Mauricio, both had a relationship for almost eight years but Liliana decided to end it last year due to constant harassment. that bordered on obsession.
“I knew him well. Among other things because I lived with Liliana for many years and saw that relationship up close. He was a good person as a friend, but as a couple he was jealous, obsessive, possessive and one of the reasons for ending (the relationship) was that. If she was with a client she would chase them, she would suddenly appear where she had work appointments. On some occasions she would park her car near the house where we lived and she would stay there for hours,” Mauricio recalls through tears.
The couple, he says, had ended the relationship on other previous occasions, but had gotten married again. until this last time when Liliana decided that the breakup was final.
Authorities respond to an emergency in Raleigh, North Carolina (File photo).
Once the relationship ended, they continued to be friends and work colleagues since the company belonged to both of them. Even so, they decided to appoint an intermediary to manage the business and avoid friction.
“Despite the obsession he felt for my sister and his jealousy, he never treated her badly and we never imagined that he could be capable of something like that,” says Mauricio.
For this reason, the brother says, his intuition is that a mental health issue was behind everything.
Liliana had two children, Natalie, 27, and Jonathan, 33. According to Mauricio, his niece told him that Obando had just been diagnosed with prostate cancer and that he was going through a bad time.
They identify people found dead.
It was also why Liliana agreed to go out with him once again on Monday night.
“It was bad and she was sad and that's why she accepted that last invitation when he killed her,” says Mauricio.
In retrospect, he says, there were things that happened that today have acquired another dimension. Like one time they were out for a walk in Antioquia and Obando told a relative that “Liliana was the woman who was going to cause him to commit suicide.”
What hurts Mauricio the most is that his sister was going through the best moment of her life.
“I was happy, I had plans, I had just become a grandmother (Natalie has a 5-year-old baby). And this man destroyed everything.”
SERGIO GÓMEZ MASERI
TIME CORRESPONDENT
WASHINGTON
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