Jhonier Leal, brother of Mauricio Leal, would have killed another person 13 years ago

The case of the double homicide of Mauricio Leal and his mother, Marleny Hernández, began to unravel after Jhonier, brother and son of the victims, respectively, confessed that he was guilty of the violent crime. The legal process against him has been developing, however, a new detail has come to light that puts him back in the eye of the hurricane. Recently his name stood out in alleged responsibility in a homicide case.

The magazine Semana detailed that Leal's name stood out in an investigation that sought to clarify what happened to a person who died in November 2008, in the middle of public roads, between Yumbo and Cali, in Valle del Cauca.

According to the allegations, a person was hit by a car on the road. A woman alerted the authorities to the situation and the uniformed men pursued the vehicle that was allegedly involved in the crime. When the vehicle was stopped, the police officers found Jhonier Rodolfo Leal.

The man, the magazine highlights, pleaded not guilty and said that he had not felt any impact on his car. The authorities, however, made him go to the scene. Although a case was opened by the Prosecutor's Office, for the death of the person and the escape that was given after that, the case did not proceed.

Apparently, the proceedings in the case were not brought forward, which resulted in the process being inactivated. It is currently listed under that status: inactive. Jhonier appears in the file as indicted, that is, as investigated. “I intercept it, ask for support from my colleagues to get them to the place, and I tell the driver that, apparently, it caused a traffic accident where the cones were preemptively located,” says the policeman's report on what happened that day. Details of the victim of the events are known to us.

It was on March 29 when, in the end, the pre-agreement reached by the confessed murderer of his mother and brother with the Prosecutor's Office became known. It was stipulated that Leal will pay a sentence of 27 years and five months in prison (330 months) and a fine of 200 statutory minimum monthly salaries in force, for the crimes of aggravated homicide and concealment of material evidence.

For that same meeting before the courts, Carlos García, Jhonier's stepbrother, asked to be declared as a victim in the case. The man, who is deprived of liberty in a prison in Jamundí (Valle del Cauca) for the crime of sexual abuse of a minor under 14 years of age, asked the 55th Court of Knowledge of Bogotá, to benefit under that condition.

Mauricio Leal's family, through their defense team, stated that they did not agree with the agreement with Jhonier. “The truth is that I never imagined that he would have done that, one of the family who will suspect that the brother is going to kill his mother (...) he (Mauricio) was afraid to stick himself with a needle (...) I didn't think he would do that to my mother, he loved her, they were one”

“This man would end up paying for each of the murders almost 7 years in prison and, finally, when he turns 16 he would have the right to apply for parole. If the Prosecutor's Office has enough evidence to secure conviction against Jhonier Leal, we don't understand why it rewards him with a pre-agreement that would release him in a few years. In addition to that, we find other irregularities that we will inform the judge so that he does not give approval to this pre-agreement,” said Elmer Montaña, the victims' lawyer, in an interview with Blu Radio.

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