EL ESPECTADOR, MAY 30, 2023
(Translated by Eunice Gibson, CSN Volunteer Translator)
Retired Colonel Benjamín Nuñez, then-Commander of the Police Department in Sucre Department, will have to serve a sentence of 29 years in prison for the triple murder that took place in July of 2022 in Chochó, Sucre Department. That was confirmed by a Colombian judge who imposed the sentence days after approving the plea agreement between Nuñez and the prosecutors. Nuñez admitted that he had fired his weapon at Carlos Alberto Ibánez, Jesús David Díaz Monterroza, and José Carlos Arévalo.
Nuñez confessed to the crimes of aggravated homicide, false imprisonment, hiding material evidence, and falsifying a public document. The investigations revealed that he detained the young men with the excuse that they might be responsible for the death of Patrolman Diego Felipe Ruiz Rincón, who was murdered by the Clan del Golfo as part of their “plan pistola”.
Besides that, the evidence showed that, after the crime, the Colonel told the soldiers who were present that they were to register false information in their respective reports to make it look as if the three young men were members of that armed group.
Before he was ordered convicted, Benjamín begged forgiveness from his family, his friends, and the institution he had been a part of for a little more than 22 years. “I beg forgiveness from my family, they know more than anyone my principles and my heart, and who I am. To my friends I say that I am a very strong person. With the help of God, I am achieving many things here in this establishment. To society itself, the few that know me from my work know who I am, but these errors were committed, and to the justice system here, we are saying that I am ready to be a new person with the principles to reconstruct and repair the pain that I caused,” he told the court.
Ten Police Officers have also been charged in connection with these killings. They are María Camila Buriticá Valencia; Jesús María Bolaño Castor; Rafael Paz; Santiago Garavito; Álvaro Álvarez; Yamit Henao; Huber Mieles Arroyo; Bernardo Pontón Mercado; Diana Puerta Rodríguez; and Leila Ávila.