In a possible crime of passion, businesswoman Zulma Guzman Castro stands accused of murdering two teenage girls with their favourite fruit treat, allegedly going to cunning lengths to target them
In what has been described as an alleged “act of vengeance”, a businesswoman has been accused of killing two schoolgirls with a gift of poisoned fruit.
Zulma Guzman Castro, who denies the charges she faces, has been accused of killing Ines de Bedout, 14, and 13-year-old Emilia Forero after an alleged fall-out with Ines’s father, Juan de Bedout, after their secret affair went sour. In what is being regarded as a potential crime of passion, prosecutors have alleged that Guzman used a courier firm to deliver a package of chocolate-covered raspberries to the girls, being well aware of their fondness for the fruit, as well as their daily routines.
The delivery man told investigators that he was given the package containing the raspberries by a friend of Guzman, and advised that this was a present for them as the dessert was one of their favourites. The raspberries were delivered to the girls shortly after 7 pm local time on April 3. The teenagers had reportedly rejected an earlier delivery attempt, as they hadn’t been expecting anything.
READ MORE: Poisoned raspberries case: Dad of teen victim reveals devastation
It’s understood that Ines and Emilia had been playing at a luxury apartment in Bogota, Colombia, after school when they received the unexpected delivery. Less than a week later, they were both dead. Another friend and one of the victim’s brothers, 21, also required hospital treatment after eating the raspberries, but thankfully survived. Sadly, the girl who pulled through is understood to have suffered lasting injuries.
A forensic report determined that the chocolate raspberries had been deliberately injected with thallium, a colourless, odourless heavy metal which was initially linked to the 2006 poisoning of former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko. Meanwhile, as reported by local publication El Colombiano, investigators are now probing the death of Juan’s wife, who passed two years before the girls, amid speculation she also could have been the victim of thallium poisoning.
After test results pointed to murder, Colombia’s prosecution service asked Interpol to arrest Guzman, who is the founder of the car-sharing company Car-B. It’s understood that Guzman fled the country to her home country of Argentina, while an Interpol Red Notice was issued for her. After leaving Colombia earlier this year, Guzman, who continues to protest her innocence, is said to have spent time in Brazil, Spain and the UK.
In a message reported by Colombian outlets on the evening of December 5, Guzman stated: “I find myself in the middle of a very serious situation, where I’m being accused of having been the person who sent a poison that killed two girls. They accuse me of having fled to Argentina, and then to Brazil, Spain and the UK. Those who know me know I haven’t fled anywhere. They know I’ve been working in Argentina and began a masters in journalism here.
“I went to Spain more than a month ago, with a stopover in Brazil, and then to the UK because of my son. I imagine they’re accusing me because I had a secret relationship with the father of one of the girls.”
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READ MORE: Woman ‘kills schoolgirls with poisoned raspberries over love affair’
