A suspect is being held in police custody in connection with the death of a “warm-hearted” London-based scientist whose body parts were found scattered across a port city in Colombia.
Alessandro Coatti, 38, was last seen leaving his hostel in Santa Marta on 4 April. Two days later, his head, hands and feet were found in a suitcase near the Sierra Nevada stadium. Other body parts were discovered miles away by the Minuto de Dios bridge.
Police, who initially thought Coatti’s death could have been linked to a war between two rival gangs in the city, now believe he was lured to his death by a group of thieves who target their victims on Grindr. A coroner determined that he died of blunt force trauma to the head.
Six members of a gang of thieves were arrested and accused of seducing Coatti, using Grindr.
The police have now arrested 42-year-old Uber Etilvio Torres García who was identified from a picture, showing him walking on the beach with the scientist on the day he disappeared.
They suspect that García led Coatti into the gang trap and that the scientist was driven to a house in San José del Pando, just a few miles away, by other members of the gang who tried to sedate, beat and gag him, in an effort to get details of his bank cards.
A police officer told El Tiempo: “What is surprising is the ability they showed to plan, execute and cover up a crime of such magnitude.”
Coatti’s family in Italy were informed of the arrest, with his uncle telling The Times that the news brought no closure.
“We are existing one day at a time and still unable to find any explanation for what happened. It still does not seem true, it is something we have yet to come to terms with,” he said.
The molecular biologist, who had recently left the Royal Society of Biology after eight years as a senior policy officer, was remembered as someone who was “funny, warm, intelligent” and “loved by everyone he worked with”.
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