MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Murdered Paraguayan Prosecutor laid to rest

Former Judge Francisco Pecci said drug traffickers murdered my son “for doing his job well”

Paraguayan anti-drug and organized crime Prosecutor Marcelo Pecci, who was murdered in cold blood last week while honeymooning in an exclusive beach resort in Colombia, was laid to rest at Asunción's Recoleta Cemetery Sunday.

His body arrived in Paraguay early Saturday, hours after his widow Claudia Aguilera and some Paraguayan colleagues who had traveled to Colombia to assist local authorities with the inquiries into the assassination landed at the Silvio Petirossi airport on the country's presidential airplane.

Hours before the killing, Aguilera had posted on social media that she was pregnant. During the funeral, Pecci's father, former Judge Francisco Pecci, announced that his grandchild will be named Marcelo, after his son.

Before heading for the cemetery, Pecci's hearse made a stop at the stadium of Guaraní, the football club of which he was a supporter and even a member of the board of directors as fans chanted songs in an emotional farewell.

There was a second stop at the San José School, where Pecci had studied and where a religious service was also offered.

Colombian authorities investigating the murder have been very cautious talking about it to the press. Nevertheless, it is believed that the killing was linked to one of the cases on which Pecci was working.

Colombian police have been canvassing Cartagena and nearby areas trying to determine where the hitmen could have hidden.

Paraguayan National Police Commissioner Nimio Cardozo, who traveled to Cartagena, told reporters that it took the killers “13 minutes” to rent the jet skis, shoot Pecci three times and flee the scene. He also said “three 9 millimeter pistol shells” had been retrieved.

Investigators are also following clues in Brazil, Paraguay, and the United States. The DEA, the FBI, and Europol have been summoned to find the perpetrators.