Background:
Sierra Hernández was known for his unrelenting criticism of the provincial political elite in his opinion column titled “Punto de encuentro” (Meeting Point). In 1998 he was given a bodyguard as a result of threats he received after Ferney Tapasco (Caldas provincial chief of the Barquist Popular Liberalism, the movement headed by Senator Víctor Renán Barco) lost his seat in the Chamber of Deputies on being convicted of receiving kickbacks for issuing military passbooks when he was mayor of the town of Supía in the mid-1970s. While the impeachment proceedings were already under way, Sierra Hernández continued making allegations against Tapasco, who in addition was implicated in the death of Professor Orlando de Jesús Salazar. Tapasco went on in 1995 to be sentenced to one year in prison for covering up the murderer, who had fled in a car registered to Tapasco, at the time was speaker of the Chamber of Deputies.

In his most recent columns, Sierra Hernández was especially caustic about Arturo Yepes, the brother of Senator Omar Yepes, who he described as having been born “chemically bad.” In one column he repeated allegations of nepotism, misuse of funds, contract rigging and other administrative wrongdoing, such as state funding for a residential development that went missing, according to Sierra Hernández, “by the grace of the coalition” - the name given to the union of political veterans and senators Víctor Renán Barco (of the Liberal Party) and Omar Yepes (Conservative) for their handing each public posts in Caldas province.

Because of his scathing articles, backed up by precise details, the journalist constantly received warnings and anonymous phone calls that he shrugged off.

Alleged perpetrators:
Caldas politicians

Legal proceedings:
The investigation is filed under case number 1153 of the National Human Rights and Humanitarian International Law Unit. On January 30, 2002, the date of the murder, preliminary proceedings were initiated and Luis Fernando Soto Zapata and Luis Arlet Ortiz Orozco, a.k.a. Pereque, were named as suspected of having carried out the murder. On February 8, 2002, the two were indicted and Soto Zapata was placed in preventive detention, but not the other suspect because of lack of evidence against him.

On April 17, Soto Zapata was put on trial and he pleaded guilty. Twenty days later, the Manizales Criminal Circuit Court convicted him of aggravated homicide and possession of firearms and sentenced him to 19 years and six months’ imprisonment. Members of the public and the press called the sentence too short.

On May 7, Francisco Antonio Quintero Tabares, ak.a. Luis Tabares Hernández, or Tilín, was named as a possible participant in the crime. Two days later, the February 8 decision not to send Arlet Ortiz to jail was rescinded, on the basis of new evidence, and an order was issued for his arrest.

On June 27, 2002, a similar order was issued for the arrest of the man known as Tilín as allegedly having taken part in the murder. He was jailed on another charge, for which he was later convicted.

Defense counsel for Artlet Ortiz and Quintero Tabares appealed the arrest orders, but their appeal was rejected.

As to who might be behind the murder, in the course of the investigation the District Attorney’s Office heard statements from a number of people who implicated prominent Manizales politicians, but their testimony was taken as hearsay based on rumors and conjectures voiced by local media.