An arraignment court in Colombia’s capital Bogota sent a US citizen to jail on femicide charges.
John Poulos from Wisconsin was arrested in Panama and extradited last week after police found the body of his girlfriend inside a suitcase in a Bogota dumpster.
According to the prosecution, Poulos murdered the 23-year-old DJ Valentina Trespalacios in his apartment, dumped her body and cellphone, and tried to flee to Turkey.
Published footage from the apartment building showed the suspected killer leaving his home with the suitcase that allegedly contained the remains of his girlfriend.
According to the Antimilitarist Feminist Network, 612 women were the victim of femicide in Colombia last year compared to 622 in 2021.
Colombia’s prosecution decided to investigate the murders of all women as possible femicides in an attempt to curb rampant violence against women in the South American country in 2016.
Last year, the prosecution didn’t mention the hate crime in its annual report once.
