U.S. man who killed girlfriend, stuffed physique in suitcase will get 42 years for femicide in Colombia

An American man was sentenced to 42 years in jail in Bogota on Tuesday for the homicide of a well-known Colombian DJ in a case that drew worldwide outrage from girls’s rights activists.

John Nelson Poulos was arrested in January 2023 in Panama whereas on the run from Colombian authorities for the homicide of 23-year-old Valentina Trespalacios, whom he’d dated for just below a 12 months.

Prosecutors stated he beat and suffocated her “within the midst of a jealous assault.”

Safety digital camera footage confirmed Poulos leaving his house pushing a cart with a big suitcase, and Trespalacios’ physique had been stuffed inside.

Her corpse was later found in a rubbish container.

The 12 months earlier than, the Colombian Femicide Observatory, a non-governmental group, recorded 612 femicides within the nation, although the federal government solely recorded 100.

Femicide has been a definite crime in Colombia since 2015.

The European Institute for Gender Equality says femicide “is deeply rooted in and a manifestation of energy imbalances in society, which promotes an unequal standing for women and men.”

The institute says femicide “is broadly outlined because the killing of a girl or lady due to her gender and might take totally different kinds, such because the homicide of girls on account of intimate companion violence; the torture and misogynist slaying of girls; killing of girls and ladies within the identify of ‘honor,’ and so forth.”