A criminal investigation in Colombia has revealed a chilling twist in the killing of rice businessman Gustavo Aponte, who was gunned down on February 11 after being mistaken for another entrepreneur. According to case files reviewed by investigators, the same hit squad, known as “Los gladiadores,” had previously tried—and failed—to kill their actual target in Medellín and later at an exclusive restaurant, before ultimately murdering the wrong man in Bogotá.
The mix-up appears to have triggered a deadly cover-up. Sources say the masterminds behind the plot have since ordered the entire hit squad executed to erase any trace of the botched operation. At least three members have already been killed.
One of them, Andrés Molano Rincón, was found dead on February 13, stabbed at least 16 times in vital organs. His body was discovered inside a gray Chevrolet Spark in a rural area of Tibirita, a small town in Cundinamarca department roughly two hours from Bogotá. Authorities initially described his death as the result of a fight between two men, but investigators later confirmed that the same vehicle was linked to Aponte’s murder two days earlier.
A cellphone recovered during the investigation proved crucial in tying the suspects together and unraveling the sequence of events. The case remains open as authorities work to identify who ordered the killings and why the wrong man was targeted in the first place.
For the full investigative report, read the original story at El Tiempo.
Image: Chris Yarzab, BY 2.0 (via Openverse).