The Attorney General’s Office is continuing to unravel the possible links of the criminal network behind the murder of the managing editor of the La Patria newspaper, Orlando Sierra Hernández. Subsequent to linking Ferney Tapasco González and Dixon Tapasco Triviño to it through their statements the arrest was announced of Oscar Alonso López Escobar, alleged to be the intermediary between the supposed masterminds and hired gunmen.

López Escobar, a.k.a. Guadas, was suspected of being guilty of aggravated homicide. According to the authorities he is a native of Aguadas, he is 40 years old and he holds various jobs.

The arrest yesterday (October 6) was made by members of the Investigative Technical Corps (CTI) of Manizales, acting on orders of the Human Rights 9th Public Prosecutor’s Office, which is currently handling the investigation.

That office said that López Escobar was a bodyguard of Tapasco Gonzalez and he is being questioned to determine whether it was he who had contacted the hired gunmen. He spent the night in custody in Manizales and will not be transferred to Bogotá as he will testify to the Manizales Specialist Prosecutor’s Office.

The crime

The attack on Orlando Sierra Hernández, managing editor of La Patria, occurred on January 30, 2002 at 1:55 p.m. outside the newspaper’s old offices, at the corner of Highway 20 and 22nd Street. Orlando Sierra, a 42-year-old philosopher and journalist, was rushed to Caldas Hospital, where he died two days later.

Hired gunman Luis Fernando Soto was arrested and his 38mm revolver taken from him. Following his apprehension he pled guilty to the charges and was sentenced to 19 years in prison. He served five years and in 2007 was released. In July 2008 he died in a clash with police after killing a businessman in Cali.

Also convicted in the Orlando Sierra murder were Luis Miguel Tabares Hernández, a.k.a. Tilin, and Arley Ortiz Orozco, a.k.a. Pereque, as joint perpetrators. Both remain behind bars.