(CNN Spanish) – The Criminal Chamber of the Superior Court of Bogotá ratified this Wednesday the acquittal of Laura Moreno and Jessy Quintero in the case of the death of the young Luis Andrés Colmenares in 2010, which caused outrage in Colombia and for which both were acquitted by a judge in 2017.
In the Court’s resolution, which was read by Judge Jairo José Agudelo in a virtual hearing, which was also broadcast on the internet by various Colombian media, it was explained that the Prosecutor’s Office could not prove beyond a “reasonable doubt” participation of women in the crimes charged to them, nor that the death of the victim was a homicide.
Moreno had been accused of being a co-author of the murder and Quintero for concealment and false testimony.
None were publicly pronounced after the reading of the ruling. On Thursday, CNN was still trying to contact his lawyers.
Jorge Colmenares, Luis Andrés’ brother, said on Twitter that “we do not share the second instance ruling of the Bogotá Court, which confirms the alleged innocence of two people tried … in the murder of my brother.”
What happened to Luis Andrés Colmenares?
Luis Andrés Colmenares, whose body was found in a pipe north of Bogotá on October 31, 2010, partied with some friends and died after leaving a nightclub.
To date, there is no one convicted of this case, which was initially treated as a suicide, but became relevant after the exhumation of the body a year later, when the family insisted that his death was due to a homicide and the Prosecutor’s Office began to investigate it. as such.
Laura Moreno, who was with Luis Andrés when he allegedly threw himself drunk, always maintained his version of the fall and denied any alleged murder. The thesis of the Prosecutor’s Office was that the body of Luis Andrés was not found in the initial search because it was not in the pipe: he was attacked and beaten in another place by third parties and with the help of Moreno, who later left him in this place.
Jessy Quintero was accused of concealment and false testimony because she supported Laura’s version. However, in 2017, the two were acquitted of the charges by a Bogotá judge, who argued that the Prosecutor’s Office not only could not prove the responsibility of Quintero and Moreno, but also did not prove the murder thesis.
According to the ruling, Colmenares died as a result of a fall.
Carlos Cárdenas, an ex-boyfriend of Laura Moreno, was also accused by the Prosecutor’s Office of being a co-author of the Colmenares murder. The Prosecutor’s Office insisted on its thesis that the body received several blows with different forces and at different times, which did not correspond to a fall. Something in which the accused allegedly would have responsibility, despite the fact that he always denied the allegations.
A trial judge decided to acquit him for not finding conclusive evidence linking him to the case.