Reward leads to suspected killers of Italian scientist whose dismembered body was found in Colombia, police say
Alessandro Coatti, 42, worked for Britain's Royal Society of Biology as a science policy officer whose job included giving evidence to parliament, before leaving that post in 2024 to travel in South America.
Part of his body was found in a suitcase on a riverbank on April 6. Other remains were later found in other locations.
Coatti had arrived in Santa Marta, a city that acts as a gateway to idyllic palm-lined Caribbean beaches and the snow-capped Sierra Nevada mountain range, as a tourist.
The police said he was lured by a gang that planned to rob him to an abandoned house in the city, through a dating app for the LGBTQ community.
Scientist Alessandro Coatti was reported missing in Santa Marta, Colombia, on April 5, 2025.
Royal Society of Biology
El Tiempo quoted a local hotel worker as saying Coatti was conducting research on local animal species and had asked about visiting the village of Minca, about six miles southeast of Santa Marta.
Santa Marta's Mayor Carlos Pinedo said Sunday that four people suspected of his murder and dismemberment had been arrested in raids in the Colombian capital Bogota, the second city of Medellin as well as in Santa Marta and the town of Arjona, near the port city of Cartagena.
At a press conference on Monday, Santa Marta police chief Colonel Jaime Rios said that the police had received a tip-off, which led them to a house where traces of blood were found.
"Through arduous investigative work, interviews were conducted, biological traces belonging to the victim were collected, and security camera footage was analyzed, which were all key to solving the case," he said.
The gruesome killing of Coatti, described by colleagues at the Royal Society of Biology as a respected scientist, caused shock in Colombia.
"He was a passionate and dedicated scientist, leading RSB animal science work, writing numerous submissions, organizing events and giving evidence in the House of Commons," the RSB said in a statement after Coatti's death. "Ale was funny, warm, intelligent, loved by everyone he worked with, and will be deeply missed by all who knew and worked with him."
Pinedo had offered a reward of $12,000 for information leading to the capture of his killers.
Rios said the reward had led to the breakthrough in the investigation.
The Sierra Nevada mountains are home to a drug-running paramilitary gang known as the "Conquistadors of the Sierra Nevada."
It is not known if they had any hand in Coatti's murder, but they have been linked to the murder and dismemberment of others in recent years.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
25 minutes ago
- Yahoo
He Served Time for a Machete Attack. Now, He's Been Arrested in the Fatal Stabbing of a Woman Who Hired Him as a Handyman
Alexander Lee Rogers, 51, was apprehended Tuesday, Aug. 12, in Los Angeles after a week-long manhuntNEED TO KNOW Alexander Lee Rogers was wanted for murder and attempted murder in Washington state Rogers is accused of fatally stabbing a woman and her brother-in-law who had hired him as a handyman He was on the run for a week before he was apprehended in Los AngelesA suspect who was wanted for allegedly stabbing a Washington state woman to death and seriously wounding her brother-in-law was captured in Los Angeles after a week-long manhunt, authorities said. Alexander Lee Rogers, 51, of Longview, Wash., was taken into custody on Tuesday, Aug. 12, in the Koreatown area, LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell said at a press conference, CBS News reports. Officers said they had positively identified the wanted suspect and that he was taken into custody without incident, McDonnell said. Police had been searching for Rogers, who was wanted in connection with the alleged Aug. 5 murder of Dawn Peters, 64, and the attempted murder of Andrew Peters, 73, Captain Branden McNew of the Longview Police Department said in a Facebook post on Aug. 6. Rogers is believed to have been working as a handyman for the victims, KOMO News reports. Dawn Peters died from her injuries and Andrew Peters was reported to be in stable condition and recovering at a local hospital. Andrew was slashed in the throat, but "if it wasn't for him pushing the panic button the other 2 people in the house would've also been dead," reads a GoFundMe set up to help defray costs of Dawn Peters' funeral and to help repair the home in the aftermath of the attack. L.A. County deputies had found Rogers' car, a black BMW, in Calabasas on Aug. was released from prison earlier this year after serving a sentence for first-degree assault in a machete attack that injured two people in the early 2000s, McNew told KTLA-TV. In the GoFundMe, the organizer wrote that Dawn "was truly the kindest woman." "There wasn't a single person on this earth that she didn't care about," the fundraising appeal reads. "She took care of everyone around her no matter the extent. Rogers remains jailed in Los Angeles pending extradition. It is unclear whether he has retained an attorney who can speak on his behalf. Read the original article on People
Associated Press
an hour ago
- Associated Press
Memphis man who killed 3 in live streamed shooting rampage pleads guilty
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — A Tennessee man avoided a trial and possible death sentence by pleading guilty Wednesday to fatally shooting three people and wounding three others in a daylong series of shootings that was live streamed on social media in 2022. Ezekiel Kelly, 22, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and two dozen other charges in a Memphis courtroom. Shelby County Judge James Jones Jr. sentenced Kelly to three life sentences without parole, plus 221 years, in a deal with prosecutors. Kelly had pleaded not guilty in the September 2022 shooting rampage in Memphis that led to a citywide shelter-in-place order during a frantic manhunt. He took the stand during Wednesday's hearing, telling the judge he agreed to plead guilty and that he accepted the prison sentences. Kelly cried and wiped his eyes with a tissue as the relative of a victim gave a statement in court. Kelly then said there was nothing he could say to give shooting victims and their families closure. He added that he was in the 'darkest place of my life' at the time of the shootings and he wanted to help others avoid the same bad decisions he made. 'God gave me a second chance,' Kelly said. Kelly's trial had been set to begin Feb. 9. His lawyers had said that evidence in the case included 400 witnesses and more than 300 videos. Prosecutors had said they planned to seek the death penalty if he were convicted of first-degree murder. Along with the killings of Dewayne Tunstall, Richard Clark and Allison Parker, Kelly also had been charged with offenses including attempted murder, reckless endangerment with a deadly weapon, theft and commission of an act of terrorism. At least three witnesses saw Kelly shoot Tunstall during a gathering at a Memphis home at about 1 a.m. on Sept. 7, 2022, according to a police affidavit. Clark and Parker were shot later that day, authorities said. Police said three other people were wounded in the shootings, which took place in different parts of Memphis, including at a gas station, along an interstate and at an auto parts store. Kelly live streamed himself on social media platforms firing a gun and wounding a man at the auto parts store and talking about shooting people. The ordeal shut down Memphis' public bus system, locked down two college campuses and stopped a minor league baseball game. Kelly carjacked at least two vehicles before he was arrested when he crashed a stolen car while fleeing police, authorities said. Parker was a mother of three who worked as a medical assistant at a clinic in nearby West Memphis, Arkansas. Clark worked as a campus safety officer at Christian Brothers University after retiring from a career as a corrections officer.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Teenagers charged with murder at seaside resort appear in court
A 16-year-old girl and two boys, aged 14 and 15, have appeared in court charged with the murder of a man in a seaside resort. Kent police were called to the Warden Bay Road area of Leysdown-on-Sea, on the Isle of Sheppey, shortly after 7pm on Sunday, following an altercation involving a small number of people. Alexander Cashford, 49, was confirmed dead at the scene, with the force saying multiple injuries to his body were reported. The three teenagers, all from London, are thought to have been on holiday in Kent at the time of the attack. They were jointly charged with murder on Tuesday and appeared at Medway Magistrates on Wednesday afternoon. The defendants were accompanied in the well of the court by their parents, while other family members watched from the public gallery. Prosecuting, Dylan Bradshaw said: 'What we know is that Alexander Cashford, a 49-year-old male, shortly after 7pm on Sunday August 10, went to the beach area of Warden's Bay. 'About an hour and five mins later, he was pronounced dead – during that period, he was the subject of a violent assault.' The attack is alleged to involve a glass bottle and rocks being thrown, the court heard. The 16-year-old and 14-year-old both cried during the hearing while the 15-year-old looked at the floor, rocking slightly. A 12-year-old girl, arrested on Tuesday in Basildon, Essex, is still in custody. The girl and two boys, who cannot be named for legal reasons, have been remanded into youth detention accommodation to appear on Thursday at Maidstone Crown Court.
