Photograph Illustration by Thomas Levinson/The Day by day Beast/Getty/Policía Nacional
CAUCA, Colombia—American citizen John Poulos, 35, was arrested by Interpol officers final week in Panama for the alleged homicide of his fiancée, a celebrated DJ from Bogotá. The physique of Valentina Trespalacios, 21, had been present in a dumpster on Jan. 22 within the Fontibón district of the Colombian capital, in line with the general public prosecutor’s workplace.
Trespalacios’ stays had been stuffed right into a “blue plastic-coated journey suitcase, which was correctly packed in a white plastic bag,” Semana journal reported officers as saying, and the physique had been discovered by a homeless man rooting within the trash. Prosecutors additionally famous that Trespalacios’ cellphone had been present in a rubbish bin on the Dorado Worldwide Airport in Bogotá.
Authorities listed Trespalacios’ reason behind dying as “mechanical strangulation” and added that the post-mortem indicated she had additionally had intercourse along with her killer shortly earlier than her dying. There have been additionally bruises on her lips, cheeks, again, and arms.
Texas native Poulos was virtually instantly extradited to Colombia, the place the divorced father of three denied all expenses.
Poulos was attempting to board a flight from Panama to Turkey when he was apprehended, in accordance to Colombian police, who additionally revealed images of the tickets allegedly in Poulos’ possession on the time. His closing vacation spot was apparently Montenegro, which doesn't at the moment have an extradition treaty with the U.S.
The homicide of the favored DJ, who was a fixture at golf equipment across the nation, has brought about such widespread outrage in Colombia that the lawyer representing Poulos determined to stop the case this week as a result of variety of dying threats he’d acquired.
The sufferer’s brother Daniel Trespalacios, who can be appearing because the household spokesperson, informed The Day by day Beast that his sister had been “very considered from a younger age.” He additionally mentioned the notable DJ was “our [family’s] monetary help” and that she had “dreamt of shopping for our mother a home some day.”
The oldest of the 4 Trespalacios siblings, Daniel additionally described his sister as a “warrior” who was “very centered on her future.”
Eva Manjarrez, a Medellin-based faculty pupil who was a part of Trespalacios’ circle of musician mates, informed The Day by day Beast: “I at all times paid consideration to her exhibits. I admired her a lot and I used to be shocked that sooner or later she is performing and the subsequent day they discover her in a rubbish container… It hurts quite a bit. All the creative union of DJs and [her] different mates are outraged.”
Manjarrez additionally mentioned that Trespalacio had informed her she was keen on her “novio” (fiancé) and excited for his or her marriage ceremony and subsequent life collectively.
“What I do know is that Valen[tina] beloved him very a lot,” Manjarrez mentioned.
In keeping with the sufferer’s household, Trespalacios and Poulos met by way of the relationship app Tinder about 10 months in the past. Poulos, who's reported to have been a monetary adviser, had subsequently made a number of journeys to Colombia the place he made a superb impression on her family members.
John Poulos held by the Workplace of the Lawyer Basic of Colombia.
Workplace of the Lawyer Basic of Colombia
“He appeared like a pleasant individual,” mentioned household spokesperson Daniel, who helped police establish images and video of Poulos, finally resulting in his seize in Panama.
“He took my mom and my two little brothers to eat as soon as at a restaurant in an excellent neighborhood in Bogotá. And he gave the impression to be a superb man. He promised my sister that he would come again to get married,” Daniel mentioned.
However earlier than the marriage, Poulos started to show indicators of jealousy, in line with prosecutors.
At a listening to earlier this week, prosecutor Daniel Gómez Acuña mentioned Poulos had employed a non-public investigator to comply with his betrothed on account of “suspicions” of infidelity he had in regards to the relationship.
“Poulos had sexual relations with Valentina Trespalacios and proceeded to violently beat Miss Valentina’s physique along with his personal fists, after which he put stress along with his arms round her neck till she died,” mentioned the prosecutor.
The prosecutor additionally accused Poulos of seeing the sufferer as “his private object” and “that's the reason he... managed her actions, her private friendships, [and] monitored her [social media] networks.”
Allegedly provoked by the studies from the detective he’d employed, Poulos returned to Colombia once more on Jan. 19. He’d informed Trepalacios and his household that he was coming to purchase an condominium and relocate to Bogotá after the marriage. However the household now says that was only a cowl story he’d invented to arrange an act of foul play in opposition to their daughter.
“He mentioned he’d come to get married, that he was going to purchase an condominium and effectively, all that was a lie,” mentioned Daniel. “He informed my sister they'd solely keep there for one or two months, whereas they seemed to purchase an condominium. However now we all know from the investigators that wasn’t so. He had additionally rented a automotive for less than [the same] three days. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.”
Daniel mentioned that Poulos picked the sufferer up at her household residence on Friday alongside along with her baggage and drove her to the Airbnb rental. Trespalacios later carried out a present that very same night time at a membership referred to as Nexus, earlier than returning to Poulos’ condominium.
“It was my 13-year-old brother who [last] contacted her earlier than her dying,” Daniel mentioned. “At 11 p.m. on Saturday, that they had a video name till 12 a.m. Then nothing is thought till 2 p.m. on Sunday when [she’s found] in a dumpster in Fontibón.”
Daniel was away from residence that day when his stepfather got here to select him up. “After I get within the automotive he tells me: ‘They killed your sister.’ I mentioned: ‘Who killed her, who did that to her?’
“He informed me: ‘It was that gringo son of a bitch,’” Daniel mentioned.
John Poulos is arrested by Panamanian Nationwide Police.
Policía Nacional de Panamá
“The extra we all know, the more serious it's, as a result of my sister's final moments have been very onerous,” he mentioned. “Think about that vast man on high of her, choking her… After which he put her within the suitcase. Think about it. She’s skinny however she’s tall and that suitcase is tremendous small. Poor factor. He should have damaged her bones to place her in there,” including, “He’s an animal, that man is the worst.”
Poulos has been charged with femicide—outlined as “the killing of a girl or lady, specifically by a person and on account of her gender”—which might end in a minimal 40-year jail sentence if he's convicted (Colombia doesn't have the dying penalty).
Retired U.S. Federal Agent Mike Vigil, who has spent a long time stationed in Colombia and elsewhere in Latin America, mentioned that investigators within the area usually take a lax stance towards crimes in opposition to ladies.
“Authorities in Latin America are sometimes dismissive of femicides,” Vigil mentioned, describing as “an acceptance of poisonous masculinity” in native legislation enforcement.
Trespalacios’ movie star might need spurred Colombian legislation enforcement to higher policing efforts on account of public outcry. Within the wake of Trespalacios’ homicide, social media customers wasted no time in evaluating security-cam feeds of Palacios’ physique stuffed into the suitcase with photographs from Netflix’s standard Jeffrey Dahmer sequence, during which the titular character might be seen utilizing an analogous suitcase for a similar objective.
“If he hadn’t had something to do with it, he would have stayed right here to point out his face and to help us and discover out what had occurred with my sister,” mentioned Daniel, who vows to see his sister’s assassin face justice.
There are different urgent issues for the household proper now, specifically as a result of Valentina’s musical skills have been the household’s foremost supply of revenue.
“We're humble, we don’t have cash,” Daniel mentioned. “I actually didn’t know what to do or the place to go.”