New turn in Trujillo massacre case: Defense says detainees were arrested over drugs, not four killings

The lawyer for two people detained in connection with the Trujillo massacre says they were initially arrested over alleged drug offenses, not for the kidnapping and killing of four people.

Juan Alvarado, who represents José Cerrepe Dávila and another detainee, challenged the police procedure and objected to the men being publicly identified hours later as possible material perpetrators of the crime on Húsares de Junín Avenue.

“ We were surprised that, hours after their intervention, they were presented nationally as the material perpetrators of the act,” Alvarado said. He argued that the investigation must establish objectively whether either client had any link to the attack.

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We were surprised that, hours after their intervention, they were presented nationally as the material perpetrators of the act.

According to the defense, the original police operation involved a separate investigation. Alvarado said some actions allegedly took place without lawyers present and without authorization from prosecutors. He asked that further proceedings involve Peru’s Institute of Legal Medicine so independent technical assessments can be carried out.

The defense also requested expert testing, including a gunshot-residue examination, and said surveillance images from the massacre should be compared with the physical characteristics of the detainees. Those steps, Alvarado argued, could help determine whether the men correspond to the people seen in the footage and whether the evidence connects them to the killings.

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They were detained for other reasons, different from the main investigation.