Ecuador: Two defendants sentenced to 34 years in prison for the murder of Villavicencio

A court of Ecuador sentenced this Friday to 34 years and 8 months in prison two of the five people accused of the material murder of the presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencioshot dead by Colombian hitmen on August 9 last year as he left a rally in Quito.

After eight days of hearings, Carlos Edwin AL (‘El Invisible’), leader of a faction of the Los Lobos gang, and Laura Dayanara CV ‘La Flaca’ received an aggravated conviction sentence for being considered the indirect author (with control of the act) and “co-author”, respectively, of the murder of Villavicencio, the State Attorney General’s Office reported in a statement.

The judges who heard the case also imposed on the two convicted men a fine of “1,000 basic unified salaries,” approximately US$ 460,000, plus a payment for “comprehensive reparation” of US$ 100,000, most of which must be paid to the private prosecutors.

The court also sentenced Erik Marcelo RP, Víctor Alfonso F. and Alexandra Elizabeth CF to twelve years in prison, as they were considered accomplices to the murder, in addition to a fine of US$ 156,400 (340 basic salaries) and US$ 33,000 each as compensation.

According to the Prosecutor’s Office, ‘El Invisible’ was imprisoned on the day of the crime in the Latacunga prison, about 90 kilometers south of Quitobut investigations suggest that he gave the order to shoot Johan Castillo, who was shot dead by police after firing at Villavicencio.

According to the Public Prosecutor’s Office, Laura Dayanara CV ‘La Flaca’ was in charge of supplying money, weapons, motorcycles, vehicles, t-shirts and other supplies to those who participated in the attack, with the help of Erick Marcelo RP and Víctor Alfonso F.

For her part, Alexandra Elizabeth CF has been accused of being at the political rally in Quito and giving notice to the hitmen to carry out the crime.

Hitmen killed

Villavicencio was murdered by a group of seven Colombian hitmen eleven days before the first round of the extraordinary general elections, called to complete the term (2021-2025) of the former president Guillermo Lasso, that had shortened its period.

The seven Colombian men accused of participating in the murder are dead: the shooter was shot dead after firing the shots and the other six were hanged in the Litoral Penitentiary in Guayaquil, where they had been held.

Another suspect also died in similar circumstances in a Quito prison, leaving only five defendants to be tried as the perpetrators of the deadly attack.

Following the trial hearing, the lawyer for Villavicencio’s family, Hugo Espín, explained that the sentence of more than 34 years in prison against the two main defendants is only “a first step” in the overall investigation of the crime.

“Other trials will be launched” to clarify the truth, the lawyer added, assuring that Ecuador “it requires that intellectual authorship be established” in this case.

For example, he said that the hearings that were held revealed the existence of a supposed “mega criminal structure”, as well as important omissions by authorities.

Espín wondered about the fact that the order to shoot was given from a maximum security prison via a mobile phone using broadband internet, something that is prohibited in such facilities.

Missing intellectual authors

Alexandra Villavicencio, sister of the murdered political leader, said that justice had been done today, but stressed that “just as the material murderers are judged, the intellectual authors and all those hidden behind this crime should also be judged.”

“No one is invisible” and all those responsible must be brought to justice, because “this country needs to inaugurate justice,” added Alexandra Villavicencio.

For their part, Tamia and Amanda Villavicencio, daughters of the journalist and politician, said in a statement that the sentence received by the five accused “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 omissions of the Police, who ignored the request for reinforcements, nor the seven hitmen killed in the custody of the SNAI (the State penitentiary agency), nor the officials of the ECU-911 (emergency service) who gave the location of our father to his murderers.”they said.

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