Culiacán, Sinaloa: One of Javier Valdez's Murderers Is Sentenced

El Quillo” refused to accept the 20-year sentence and decided to go to trial within a month.

Without still knowing the fate of Dámaso López Serrano as the intellectual author for the crime of murder of journalist and Sinaloa writer Javier Valdez Cárdenas, one of the two involved in the crime accepted his guilt, he received a brief trial and was sentenced to 14 years and 8 months in prison.

This is Heriberto Picos Barraza, aka El Koala, who preferred to avoid the official trial. And in an abbreviated procedure accepted that he was one of the perps who participated in the murder of the Riodoce Weekly founder.

On the other hand, Juan Francisco Picos Barrueta, El Quillo, rejected the proposed sentence of 20 years and 8 months because he was the leader of the sicarios cell that ended the life of the Malayerba journalist. El Quillo will go to the oral trial next March and there they will produce the proof and evidence against him.

But in addition to obtaining a grievance greater than El Koala, El Quillo had to testify against Dámaso López Serrano, El Mini Lic, from whom the Attorney General's Office already obtained an arrest warrant.

Initially during the hearing on Thursday, both defendants refused to accept the Prosecutor’s agreement, but after a break El Koala was the only one who took the deal.

Now, once the oral trial is nearing its end in the case of the two alleged perpetrators, the Prosecutor's Office calculated the reparation of the year to the indirect victims for 9 million pesos for compensation, 2.7 million for moral damages and 50 thousand pesos for burial expenses. This amount will be covered by the Executive Commission for Victim Assistance (CEAV).

At the hearing, the prosecutors presented the evidence they obtained during the investigation to accuse El Koala, among which they highlight that two other witnesses declared that El Mini Lic sought them to assassinate Valdez Cárdenas for the amount of 100 thousand pesos and also promised them their ascension of position in the criminal organization.

The protected witnesses decline the offer and said that El Mini Lic later sought El Koala, Quillo and Diablo (the latter executed in San Luis Río Colorado), who agreed to kill the journalist.

The Prosecutor's Office has other witnesses. One of them a cousin of El Koala and El Quillo, who both said in their testimonies that supposedly one night, weeks after Javier's crime, claimed that it was “the mob belonging to El Dorado” who ordered them to kill him.

Javier Valdez Cárdenas was murdered at noon on May 15, 2017 after leaving a meeting at the Riodoce Weekly.

Upon leaving the audience, his wife, Grisedal Triana, briefly mentioned that this was only in a step towards justice for Valdez. Ad that nothing will ever return the life of her partner of more than 20 years.

Sol Prendido Borderland Beat   

https://www.elsoldesinaloa.com.mx/policiaca/sentencian-a-uno-de-los-asesinos-de-javier-valdez-4898968.html