Josafat González Valdés and Abdiel González Valdés, two of the nine accused of the homicides of seven people perpetrated in El Terrón de Santa Catalina in the Ngäbe Bugle region, accepted a sentence of 47 years in prison.
Before the trial, the two defendants expressed their decision to reach an agreement, for which the session was suspended to resolve the petition of the defendants.
The trial of the remaining seven defendants began at 2:00 p.m. of this Monday, in which the prosecutors Humberto Rodríguez and Juvencio Ceballos requested the maximum penalty for the defendants.
In this case, the Chiriquí and Bocas del Toro Prosecutor’s Office for Homicide and Femicide brought charges against the alleged members of a religious sect that kidnapped and tortured several residents of El Terrón.
These investigations began after a complaint filed by residents of the place, who alerted to the disappearance of several neighbors.
During an ocular inspection procedure, the Public Ministry and the police located a mass grave in which they discovered the bodies of seven people, including several children.
In the investigation, the prosecution was able to determine that the members of the sect applied physical punishment to people in the community who did not accept being part of the sect.
The defendants include Mario González, Olivia Virola Valdés, Marcelo Medina Valdés, Abner González, Obniel González, Amalio González and Ariel Ríos.
