The Justice of Ecuador began on Tuesday the trial for the murder of the then presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio, at the hands of hitmen on August 9, 2023, eleven days before the celebration of the first round of the extraordinary general elections.

When presenting the facts at the trial hearing, the Prosecutor’s Office recalled that the attackers shot and injured 14 people, including Villavicencio, 3 police officers, political militants and a person who was driving in a vehicle.

At the hearing, a video was also presented with the anticipated testimony of a protected witness who narrated his participation in previous planning meetings, but not in the murder of the one who was a candidate for the Ecuadorian presidency.

In the version he pointed out that one of those involved in the crime would have told him days after the murder that “that head (that of Fernando Villavicencio) was worth 200,000 dollars and was sent to be done by the Government of Correa,” the Primicias portal published.

Former President Rafael Correa, who ruled Ecuador between 2007 and 2017, reacted on his social network X account to the publication of Primicias: “It was time… The same formula: protected and anonymous ‘witness’. Anyway…”

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The Prosecutor’s Office recalled that after the attack in Villavicencio he was transferred to a clinic, where his death was confirmed, while the attackers fled with the exception of one, “who was neutralized at the scene and transferred to the flagrante deception unit, where his death was confirmed.”

He added that the Police raided a home in Quito where he arrested six people for their alleged participation in the crime: Andrés M., José L., Adey G., Camilo R., Jules C. and Jhon R., now deceased, so the criminal action against them was extinguished.

The investigations determined the alleged involvement of seven other people: Carlos A., Laura C. Erick R., Alfonso F., Alexandra Ch., José M. (deceased) and another citizen who was dismissed, the Prosecutor’s Office added.

He pointed out that Carlos A. alias “invisible” considered a mediate author, was part of the criminal group called ‘Los Lobos’ and on the day of the murder he was imprisoned in a prison.

“Through a cell phone he gave the disposition to Johan C. (deceased) to execute the shots,” the Public Ministry said, adding that Laura C. would have been in charge of the logistics, and Alexandra Ch. would be an accomplice because she sent information from inside the site where Villavicencio led the political rally.

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On this first day, the defense of alias ‘Invisible’ expressed that the phone from which the information that relates his defendant to the case has been extracted is contaminated, since since the beginning of the case it was violated with the due chain of custody, Primicias narrated.

At the trial hearing, installed on the fourth attempt and under a strong security device, Hugo Espin, lawyer for Villavicencio’s wife, Verónica Sarauz, recalled that seven of the defendants were murdered.

“We have always had the concern that the investigation was quite biased to the part of the execution of the crime, not to the intellectual authorship,” he said.

And he said that they will now review “within the versions and within the different exhibitions that will be held, precisely how far we should take an investigation and, eventually, we have already analyzed the presentation of a different complaint that makes a goal case.”

In the early hours of this Tuesday’s hearing, the versions of four witnesses from the Prosecutor’s Office were heard, including the police officer in charge of the removal of the body of Villavicencio.

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The murdered political leader participated in the extraordinary elections called after the then head of state, Guillermo Lasso, dissolved Parliament and called for elections, in which Daniel Noboa finally triumphed in the second round.