Two suspects in the case of last week’s killing of a DEA agent in Colombia’s capital Bogota were released Wednesday after a judge ruled there was no evidence indicating the two taxi drivers’ involvement in the homicide.
The judge blasted the prosecutor of the two of four alleged accomplices in the killing, saying the prosecution’s argumentation was “chaotic” and failed to justify the suspects’ arrest.
According to newspaper El Tiempo, the Bogota judge ordered the release as the prosecution failed to provide minimal evidence “related to the investigation you are carrying out. How was the participation of each of these people? And what is the supporting material evidence of information legally obtained that links them to this investigation and these charges?”
The release of the two taxi drivers — who both remain suspects in the case — had been demanded by both their defense attorneys and the delegate of the Inspector General’s Office who all criticized the prosecution for failing to produce any evidence and only showing footage from surveillance cameras in which neither of the two suspects was seen.
Earlier that day, the lawyer of one of the suspects had already claimed the innocence of his client, saying that the only reason he had been arrested was because he worked in shifts in one of the taxis allegedly involved in the murder. The defense attorney said that the suspect had presented himself and the taxi before authorities voluntarily after seeing on TV his car was suspected of having been used in what appears to be a robbery turned murder.
MORE: Suspected Accomplice In DEA Agent’s Murder Claims To Be Innocent
DEA agent James “Terry” Watson was killed last week in the north of Bogota after watching basketball with friends and colleagues in a bar. According to investigators, the American official’s taxi was intercepted by another taxi after which Watson was stabbed.
Since then, police have arrested four suspects. Two of which are still in jail.