Two convicted of 25-year sentences for murder of Italian biologist Alessandro Coatti in Santa Marta
Uber Etilio Torres García and José Alfredo Díazgranados Sotelo were sentenced to aggravated homicide after contacting the victim in an LGBTIQ+ online community.
25-year sentence for murder of Italian biologist in Santa Marta
Two men received prison sentences of 25 years for the murder of Alessandro Coatti, an Italian biologist killed in Santa Marta in April 2025, according to infobae.com. The convicted men, Uber Etilio Torres García and José Alfredo Díazgranados Sotelo, accepted responsibility through a plea agreement before a trial judge in the capital of Magdalena.
The Public Prosecutor's Office found them guilty of aggravated homicide, qualified and aggravated theft, and concealment, alteration and destruction of evidence. The judge also imposed a fine in legal minimum wages and a 20-year ban on the exercise of public rights and functions.
Both men are two of seven people convicted to date for the same crime. The prosecution determined that a criminal group used digital platforms to approach Coatti, gain his trust and lure him into a trap.
How the crime occurred
In early April 2025, Torres García contacted the Italian citizen through an LGBTIQ+ online community and arranged to meet him under the pretext of a personal encounter, which Coatti agreed to. He then took him to a property in the San José de Pando neighbourhood in Santa Marta, where other members of the group were waiting.
Those involved beat Coatti to rob him of his belongings and money. The beatings caused his death. Subsequently, the body was dismembered and distributed in bags that were abandoned in various sectors of the city. The two convicted men were identified as responsible for both the attack and the subsequent actions to conceal the remains.
Case investigated by human rights specialised unit
The case was investigated by a prosecutor from the National Working Group for the Investigation and Prosecution of Violence Based on Sexual Orientation and/or Gender Identity of Victims (GNTOSIG), a unit attached to the Specialist Directorate against Human Rights Violations of the Public Prosecutor's Office.
The investigation identified the use of digital platforms of the LGBTIQ+ community as a mechanism to target victims. According to the agency, this criminal method reflects a specific risk associated with the instrumentalisation of spaces designed for the free exercise of identity and affective relationships.
As part of the sentence, the judge ordered the two convicted men to apologise to Coatti's family members and sign a declaration of non-repetition as symbolic reparation. This took place at the end of the hearing in which the sentence was handed down.
International reactions and profile of the victim
Following news of the murder, the Royal Society of Biology of the United Kingdom expressed its condolences and lamented the death of the biologist, who had worked for that institution for eight years. "We are devastated to announce the death of former colleague Alessandro Coatti, who was murdered in Colombia. He will be deeply missed. Our thoughts and best wishes are with his friends and family," the organisation said, cited by Noticias Caracol.
The entity added that Coatti "was fun, warm, intelligent, loved by everyone he worked with".
A relative of the biologist told El Tiempo that Coatti had carried out volunteer work in Ecuador, but that Colombia was his first destination in the country. "He travelled alone. He was planning to return to Italy on 20 April," the relative said, adding that the victim "was always in contact with his parents until the day of his disappearance. He had no threats against him".
Source: Google News CO — Crime