Doctor murdered in Trinidad: safe stolen and another physician survives
César Antonio Reyes Parada, a 69-year-old ear, nose and throat specialist, was found bound and dead in his home in Trinidad, Beni. Police are investigating the theft of a safe and suspect at least three attackers.
Doctor dies from asphyxiation in Trinidad; safe theft under investigation
A 69-year-old ear, nose and throat specialist was found dead in his home in Trinidad, capital of Beni department, in an incident that police are investigating as a homicide linked to aggravated robbery, according to El Deber.
The victim, César Antonio Reyes Parada, was found with his hands tied and his mouth blocked with rags secured with adhesive tape. In the same residence, located at the corner of San Antonio and Agustín Palacios streets, another doctor, Julio Alfred Cassab, was found alive. He had bruises and injuries and was taken to Germán Busch hospital, where he remains hospitalised.
The discovery was reported at around 6:00 a.m. Personnel from the Special Force to Combat Crime (Felcc) subsequently carried out the legal removal of the body and collected evidence from the scene.
Autopsy and circumstances of the attack
The head of the Felcc in Beni, Colonel Jorge Yáñez, reported that the autopsy determined that Reyes Parada died from mechanical asphyxiation by suffocation. The body also showed injuries caused by blows.
Based on evidence collected at the property, police believe that several individuals entered the residence, subdued its occupants and carried out the attack. The initial hypothesis points to the involvement of at least three suspects, although the exact number of those involved still needs to be established during the investigation.
Camilo Meneses, head of the volunteer firefighters who participated in the rescue, recounted that the survivor also had his hands and feet tied, although he remained conscious when the rescue workers arrived.
The disappeared safe
A central element of the investigation is the disappearance of a safe that the doctor allegedly kept in his bedroom. Upon arrival at the scene, investigators confirmed that the object was no longer in the residence.
"In the bedroom of the victim who has died, it is known that a safe was stolen. We do not yet have full certainty about what this safe contained," said Colonel Yáñez.
The police chief added that the size and characteristics of the object suggest that the involvement of several people was necessary to move it from the bedroom to the exterior of the residence.
Operations and lead on foreign involvement
After learning of the crime, the departmental police commander for Beni, Colonel Víctor Hugo Medina, reported that operations and sweeps were deployed at various points in the department to identify and apprehend those responsible.
The departmental prosecutor, Orlando Aramayo, indicated that there are preliminary indications of possible involvement of foreign nationals in the incident. However, he noted that this hypothesis still needs to be corroborated by investigators.
Reyes Parada had served as director of the Departmental Health Service (Sedes) of Beni and had a long career in medicine in the region.
Source: El Deber