An Ecuadorian court has sentenced 34 years and eight months in prison Two of the five accused of the material murder of the presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencioshot dead by Colombian hitmen on August 9 last year as he left an election rally in a crowded area of ​​Quito.

After eight days of hearings, Carlos Edwin AL, ‘El Invisible’, leader of a faction of the criminal gang The Wolvesand Laura Dayanara CV, alias ‘La Flaca’, have received an aggravated conviction sentence as they are considered indirect author (with control of the fact) and co-authorrespectively, of the murder of Villavicencio. The judges have also imposed a fine of “1,000 basic unified salaries”, approximately $460,000plus a “comprehensive reparation” payment of $100,000.

The court also sentenced 12 years in prison to Erik Marcelo RP, Victor Alfonso F. and Alexandra Elizabeth CF, as they are considered accomplices to murderin addition to a fine of $156,400 (340 basic salaries) and $33,000 each as compensation.

The role of the convicted and the dead hitmen

According to the Prosecutor’s Office, ‘El Invisible’ was held on the day of the crime in the Latacunga prison, about 90 kilometers south of Quito, but investigations point to the fact that gave the order to shoot Johan Castillo, shot dead by police after firing at Villavicencio.

According to the Public Prosecutor’s Office, ‘La Flaca’ was in charge of supplying money, weapons, motorcycles, vehicles, t-shirts and other supplies those who participated in the attack, with the help of Erick Marcelo RP and Victor Alfonso F. For her part, Alexandra Elizabeth CF has been accused of being at the political rally in Quito and give notice to the hitmen to carry out the crime.

Villavicencio was murdered by a group of Seven Colombian hitmen 11 days before the first round of the extraordinary general elections summoned to complete the term of former President Guillermo Lasso, who had his term cut short. The seven men who were accused of participating in the execution of the murder are dead: the shooter, shot down after firing the shots, and the other six, hanged in the Litoral Penitentiary in Guayaquil, where they had been held.

Also Another person involved died in similar circumstances in a prison from Quito, so Only five defendants remained to be tried as the material authors of the deadly attack against the candidate.

The mystery of the masterminds

The lawyer for Villavicencio’s family, Hugo Espín, has explained that the sentence of more than 34 years in prison against the two main defendants is only “a first step” in global crime investigation. “Other trials will be launched” to clarify the truth, added the lawyer, who maintained that Ecuador “needs to get to the intellectual authorship” of crime.

In this regard, he pointed out that in the hearings the existence of an alleged “criminal megastructure”as well as Major omissions by authoritiesEspín has questioned the fact that the order to shoot was issued from a maximum security prison using a mobile phone using broadband internet, something that is prohibited in such facilities.

For her part, Alexandra Villavicencio, sister of the murdered political leader, has assured that justice has been done, but has claimed that, “just as the material murderers are judged, the masterminds should also be tried and all those hidden.” “No one is invisible” and all those responsible must be tried, because “this country needs to inaugurate justice,” he added.

In turn, Tamia and Amanda Villavicencio, daughters of the journalist and politician, have indicated in a statement that the sentence “is the least that the Ecuadorian justice system can do for a man like Fernando, who sacrificed his life for his country.”

“We do not forget the Police omissionswho ignored the request for reinforcements, nor of the Seven hitmen killed in custody from SNAI [la agencia penitenciaria del Estado]nor of the ECU-911 officials [servicio de emergencias] who gave the location of our father to his murderers,” they denounced.

“The list is long, but above all we will never forget those who persecuted him for more than 15 years and who formed that dark narco-political marriage to end his life,” they conclude in the note.