The Office of the Attorney General found reasonable grounds to accuse the former dean of Universidad Autónoma del Caribe, Silvia Beatriz Gette Ponce as the alleged responsible for the crime committed against the architect and cattle breeder Fernando César Cepeda Vargas, which took place on August 22, 2003, in Barranquilla (Atlantico).
The decision stated that the defendant was the alleged perpetrator of the crime of aggravated murder. Additionally, it determined that she must serve a prison term.
According to the testimonies collected in the investigation, Gette Ponce had an alleged personal disagreement with the rancher and she allegedly paid a high quantity of money to the ringleaders of the northern bloc of the self-defense guerillas (which ceased to exist) to assassinate him. This version was confirmed by several ‘postulados’* of Justice and Peace, including Edgar Ignacio Fierro, alias Don Antonio, the then leader of the José Pablo Díaz Front of the AUC, structure which carried out the crime.
*Postulado: a term used to refer to demobilized members of illegal armed groups who postulated to obtain a benefit from the Justice and Peace Law.