Ex-footballer ‘beheaded good friend, set him on fireplace and left Bible subsequent to his physique’
A former footballer has been charged with murder after he allegedly beheaded his friend and set him on fire then left a Bible next to his body
Abel Stiven Carabali(Image: JamPress)
An ex-footballer has been arrested on suspicion of beheading his friend and then burning his body.
Firefighters were called to a grass fire in Curacavi, Chile when they discovered the charred remains of a man’s body on the evening of April 12. Police investigators believe the victim had been tortured before being killed.
In mid-May, after around a month of investigation, Abel Stiven Carabali, a 30-year-old former Colombian footballer, was arrested in Santiago. CCTV footage is said to show him leaving a car park in the Chilean capital with a trolley. Prosecutors believe his friend’s body was inside the cart, as reported by NeedToKnow.
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Authorities allege Carabali, with the help of another Colombian working as a taxi driver, placed the body in a car boot and drove it to Curacavi. There, the suspects allegedly set the body on fire before abandoning it.
In Colombia, Carabali had been an amateur footballer with links to Deportivo Cali, one of the country’s most successful clubs.
Prosecutors say that after settling in Chile, he joined a drug trafficking gang and eventually rose to a leadership role.
The victim was also Colombian and had a history of drug trafficking offences. His name has not been released. He and Carabali, 29, had been friends for at least eight years through football, according to prosecutors.
At the scene in Curacavi, firefighters found a Bible placed beside the victim’s severed head.
Prosecutor Carmen Gloria Guevara told local media: “Before the decapitation, he suffered multiple stab wounds that would have been unnecessary if the intention was simply to kill him.
“The way they displayed the body, abandoned it, burned it, dismembered it and left a Bible beside the victim’s head, clearly points to the hallmarks of organised crime.”
At first, investigators suspected a kidnapping for ransom, but as the investigation progressed, a settling of scores linked to drug trafficking emerged as the most likely alleged motive.
During searches, officers seized drugs and firearms of various calibres, including a weapon modified to resemble a military rifle.
Both Carabali and the taxi driver, aged 51, have been remanded in custody. They have been charged with aggravated murder, as well as weapons possession and drug trafficking offences.
Prosecutors say two other alleged gang members have been identified but remain on the run.
