A new assassination event, which went completely unnoticed, was recorded in Bogotá in the early hours of last Sunday, July 26.
The victims, two men traveling in a white Mercedes Benz, were intercepted by hitmen on a motorcycle who fled after firing their weapons several times.
The identities
EL TIEMPO had access to official reports of the case which state that on Carrera 15 with Calle 17, police officers tried to stop one of the hitmen, but he escaped.
“A crowd of people was observed who stated that some individuals traveling on an NKD motorcycle had fired a firearm repeatedly at the citizens who were in the car,” a judicial source familiar with the case told EL TIEMPO.
The vehicle referred to is a white Mercedes CLA with license plates HSZ-318.
EL TIEMPO investigated and established that the victims were identified as Juan Pablo Rico Castañeda, 25 years old; and Ángel David Patiño González, 18.
Nephew and background
According to case reports, one of the individuals was taken in the Mercedes Benz to San José hospital with multiple gunshot wounds.
And, minutes later, the other victim arrived with a gunshot wound to the abdomen. The latter stated he was the nephew of Rico Castañeda, who died at the medical center.
According to judicial sources, both individuals are local merchants. And what is known is that two different locations were cordoned off, the outskirts of San José – where the white Mercedes was left – and a corner of Carrera 15 with Calle 17, where the attack occurred.
Now, efforts are underway to locate the hitmen and several hypotheses are being verified to clarify the facts.
The theft record
EL TIEMPO investigated and established that in March 2022 Juan Pablo Rico Castañeda was involved in a theft case in which he was investigated along with another citizen, a 28-year-old Venezuelan identified as José Gregorio Barreto Hernández.
Also, in a hearing from March of that year accessed by this newspaper, the case prosecutor stated that a plea deal was being negotiated with Rico Castañeda.
(Check here all the articles from EL TIEMPO’s Investigative Unit)
It is known that a year after that process, Rico Castañeda was enrolled in a training institute offering courses in automotive mechanics.
INVESTIGATIVE UNIT
u.investigativa@eltiempo.com
@UinvestigativaET
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