Updates to our Terms of Use

We are updating our Terms of Use. Please carefully review the updated Terms before proceeding to our website.

Friday, April 19, 2024 | Back issues
Courthouse News Service Courthouse News Service

Colombians Get Decades|for Murdering DEA Agent

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (CN) - Two Colombians were sentenced to decades in federal prison Monday for kidnapping and murdering a DEA agent in Bogotá in 2013.

Édgar Javier Bello Murillo, 28, was sentenced to 440 months (36.6 years) and Omar Fabián Valdes Gualtero, 28, to 348 months (29 years).

Both pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and conspiracy to kidnap, on Dec. 19, 2014.

They are the sixth, seventh and final defendants to be sentenced for the murder of DEA agent James "Terry" Watson, who was killed on June 20, 2013.

Both men admitted they were part of a kidnapping ring that targeted people they thought were rich. One member of the ring picked up Watson in a taxi, then the others, following in a taxi, killed him, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.

Four previous defendants were sentenced to 20 years or more in federal prison, after being extradited from Colombia. One defendant, who cleaned the cab in which Watson was murdered, was sentenced to 40 months.

Categories / Uncategorized

Subscribe to Closing Arguments

Sign up for new weekly newsletter Closing Arguments to get the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and hot cases and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world.

Loading...