The Tribunal Superior de Neiva finalized prison sentences on April 30 for eleven criminals in the 2020 kidnapping and murder of taxi driver Jaime Bautista Charry. The crime took place near the Magdalena River in Huila. The gang, posing as guerrilla dissidents, continued demanding ransom after killing him.
The kidnapping occurred on September 8, 2020, when the victim picked up false passengers in Neiva. Four days later, on September 12, the captors killed him in the Buziraco area of Aipe by slitting his throat and inflicting multiple stab wounds. His body was buried in a shallow grave.
Six years later, the court rejected the defense request for nullity. Magistrate Alberto Poveda stated that “nullity is not a resource to evade guilt.” Telephone intercepts and georeferencing records confirmed everyone’s involvement.
Sentences range from 31 to 42 years and eight months in prison. Those convicted include Yeison Ferney Tovar, Henry Bonilla Mendoza and Víctor Alfonso Méndez. All are serving time for extortionate kidnapping, homicide and illegal weapons possession.
