Grandson arrested for ‘cooking nan in oven’ and burying stays in ‘flowerpots’
Judicial authorities ordered the arrest of Yeison Alberto Melo after forensic experts confirmed the victim’s identity through DNA analysis and he is due to stand trial for murder
A grandson is due to stand trial accused of murdering his own nan, cooking her body – and burying her remains in flower pots dotted about her house.
Yeison Alberto Melo, 27, is said to have tried to incinerate his grandmother’s body in an oven three months after she had taken him into her home. He is being held on remand ahead of a trial.
The unnamed victim, a 68-year-old seamstress, had taken her grandson into her home three months before she was killed, local media in Colombia report. At the time, he was on parole after serving a previous sentence.
Melo was arrested in Jamundi, located south of Cali, Colombia, having spent the last two years on the run after allegedly committing the murder in Cali between 9 and 13 October 2023.
The authorities called it one of the most chilling crimes to hit the city in recent years. Experts carried out DNA comparisons on biological remains found at the victim’s home.
The results confirmed the victim’s identity and directly linked Melo to the crime, according to the Attorney General’s Office. The suspect was arrested last Wednesday (19 Nov).
Among the evidence that shocked the Sijín investigators was Melo’s attempt to make the victim disappear. Reports indicate that he used the house’s oven to incinerate the woman’s remains and then buried the skeletal parts in various flowerpots around the house.
A spokesperson for the Attorney General’s Office said: “The physical evidence found at the scene established that the victim was murdered there and that her remains were incinerated in an oven, with some of them buried in flowerpots.”
Following his arrest, Melo was charged with aggravated homicide, concealment of a corpse, and the alteration or destruction of evidence. He was then sent to a correctional facility to await trial for the alleged murder.
During the preliminary hearings, the judge ordered his immediate transfer to prison, imposing a pretrial detention order in a correctional facility due to the flight risk and seriousness of the crimes.
For the latest breaking news and stories from across the globe from the Daily Star, sign up for our newsletter by clicking here .
