Hernán Roberto Franco doesn't know that a hitman is waiting for him. It is 7:27 a.m. this Wednesday when the businessman's car pulls into the parking lot of a building in Parque de la 93 north of Bogotá. The vehicle stops and Franco gets out of the back seat. He's wearing a jacket and tie: he has an important meeting. He takes a call with his right hand and closes the car door with the other. He walks towards the building. He doesn't see what's behind him, but as has happened again and again in this violent February in the Colombian capital, the surveillance cameras capture everything.
Suddenly a man runs into the parking lot. He wears black shoes, black pants, a black sweatshirt, a black mask, a black cap and in his right hand he carries a pistol with a silencer. He approaches Franco from behind and shoots him without his victim noticing. He immediately turns to run out of the parking lot. He barely makes it out before the automatic door closes. Franco's bodyguard pulls out a gun and chases him, but slams the door in his face. He gets stranded inside. The exchange lasts about six seconds: everything was planned.
Moments later, the security cameras at the reception capture another frightening scene. The businessman continues to talk on the phone as if nothing had happened. The camera films his right side; It appears he was not injured. Call dangle. Break. It rocks back and forth. Limping, he turns around to reveal a spot of blood on his left cheek. He leans on the desk in the hallway for a moment. He holds the cell phone with both hands as if he wanted to send a message. That's not the case. Your body gives up. Collapses.
While Franco lies on the ground inside the building, the hitman who attacked him climbs onto a motorcycle that was waiting for him outside. Does not start. He steals another and runs away. His accomplice – Jean Karlo Bermúdez Camargo, 26 years old, Colombian nationality – is not so lucky. Franco's bodyguards and security guards from a nearby company shoot him. He is captured after the shooting and taken to the El Country Clinic in Chapinero. Franco is also taken to a nearby clinic, but he arrives too late and there is nothing to do. Become dead.
Uncertainty in Bogotá
The contract killer's videos took over social networks this Wednesday. The city has been hit by a wave of restaurant robberies and shootings in recent weeks, particularly in the north, its wealthiest area. As usual, the south did not escape either. Many of these attacks were recorded and published in the news and social media. This Thursday, the US Embassy in Colombia recommended that its citizens exercise extreme caution when visiting the country, citing in particular the insecurity in Bogotá.
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President Gustavo Petro took part in the debate this Friday morning. “The national government will support Mayor Galán in his current security commitment to the city,” he explained. However, he argued that the number of homicides in the capital had fallen and that “the far right is playing irresponsibly on people's fears.” According to a report released by the mayor's office on February 2, Petro would be right. The figures showed that compared to January last year, thefts from people fell by 20% and homicides fell by 23%. But that was three weeks ago; Three weeks of robberies.
Are they running a political campaign with death and fear?
In Bogotá, an average of three murders occur per day. There will always be a photo or journalistic commentary. But if there is objectivity and no manipulation, one would have to say that it is the lowest average in the history of… https://t.co/Yr4aNVG0kK pic.twitter.com/3hxMjNBIyw
— Gustavo Petro (@petrogustavo) February 23, 2024
Bogotá is experiencing days of fear. Complaints are heard every day. They can attack you anywhere. Dinner, going for a walk, returning from the supermarket. Shortly after the images of the businessman's murder went viral, a spokesman for the Bogotá Metropolitan Police explained that this case was different. It wasn't a robbery that went wrong: they had Franco booked.
A planned death
The middle-aged man had been working since 2017 as a consultant for Supermercados Líder, a chain with branches throughout Bogotá. With his two eldest children, he founded the company CNS Colombia in 2016 to offer “comprehensive, effective and reliable solutions in the areas of management, financial, legal and business consulting”. He also conducted audits.
More specifically, Colonel Juan Carlos Arévalo, commander of the Metropolitan Police, explained this Wednesday that Franco “had an appointment to report some irregularities discovered during the audit of a private company.” He had just arrived at the offices of CNS Colombia when they killed him. “He did not appear at a restaurant or public facility. “This is a direct attack on a citizen,” emphasized the police.
An investigation by El Tiempo appears to support the hypothesis that the murder was planned. The killers had been in the sector before. Security forces in the area told the Bogotá newspaper that they saw the captured criminal “roaming the streets around the 93rd Park for several days.” “These people have already been on site checking the area for three days. They left them up there three times saying they were having breakfast but then went around different restaurants,” a security guard said. Another witness said he also saw the motorcycle the hitmen used in front of Franco's office last Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. “I took her plate (…) because she seemed suspicious to me,” he said.
The family
The motives behind the hitman are still being investigated. It is known that Franco had escorts, a driver and a high-profile family. His brother, Óscar Franco, was director of the National Tax and Customs Directorate (DIAN) between 2005 and 2009, during the second presidency of Álvaro Uribe. He also had several children. His youngest daughter is five years old and her name is Julieta. He had it with his ex-wife, the model and television presenter Alejandra Isaza Vélez.
The story of Franco and Isaza does not have a happy ending. They separated in 2021 after she reported him multiple times for domestic violence. She then spoke about it on social media. “I can’t give it anymore, it doesn’t seem fair to me to have to live in fear like this and be a victim of domestic and gender-based violence,” she explained. After the separation, Franco wanted to obtain custody of Julieta: he went to the First Family Commissioner, Usaquén I, in Bogotá to request a protective measure against his Isaza for “alleged behavior classified as domestic violence”. Isaza responded to her husband's accusations and explained what she experienced: “This year I was abruptly separated from my daughter three times, due to lies and manipulation of the system. There is a legal case against me.”
In desperation, the woman finally hired the law firm Abelardo de la Espriella to defend her. In a video produced by the firm, Isaza and his lawyers gave their version of events. “Alejandra [Isaza] and her daughter are victims of domestic, physical, psychological and economic violence. For this reason, we adopt their cause as our own and will defend their interests with care and dedication to restore their rights,” they said.
Isaza was not in Bogotá when Franco was assassinated. Shortly after the death, the woman told El Tiempo that she was “immediately preparing to travel to Bogota.” “My daughter still doesn’t know what happened,” he added. Then, through his Instagram account, where he has 200,000 followers, he asked for respect from the various media outlets that asked him for interviews. “At the moment I have not made any statement to the media, nor do I plan to. It is a difficult moment for my daughter's father's family, for me and my daughter,” he admitted.
That night he posted a photo of Julieta. The girl crouches in front of a candle, her eyes are closed, her little hands are folded together on the floor. The image is accompanied by a song: “Though my eyes can no longer see you, I can feel you, I know you are here.”
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