Two Colombian priests allegedly planned own murders, hired killers

Feb 14, 2012, 18:54 GMT

Bogota - The case of two Colombian Roman Catholic priests who were murdered last year took a twist Tuesday, when it became known that investigators believe they planned their own deaths and hired hitmen to kill them.

Rafael Reatiga and Richard Piffano, both of them priests, were found dead inside a car on January 27, 2011. The authorities immediately suspected a robbery, since the two men had drawn a large amount of money from the bank a day earlier and the cash was never found.

Investigators tracked down calls made by the two priests in the hours before they were shot. They came to a gang of hitmen and arrested two of its members.

The Bogota daily El Tiempo reported Tuesday that the priests made a death pact after one of them was found to have an incurable contagious disease, but the sickness was not identified. They reportedly hired the killers for about 8,400 dollars.

The hypothesis of a robbery lost credibility once the two priests, both aged 30, were found to have settled private matters and cancelled all their appointments after January 26. One of them cancelled christenings he was supposed to officiate, while the other registered all his property in his mother's name.

The authorities caught a signal from one of the priests' cellphones and arrested the man who was using it. He confessed to having taken part in the killings, El Tiempo reported.

Investigators have established that the two priests were regulars in nightclubs popular with the gay community.