Colombia seeks charges against Zulma Guzmán in two girls' deaths
The hearing has no date yet, and the accused remains jailed in London while her extradition is processed.
Two girls, 13 and 14, died in Bogotá in April 2025 after eating raspberries coated in chocolate laced with thallium. Over those deaths, Colombia's attorney general's office has asked for a hearing to charge Zulma Guzmán Castro. The request was filed Monday.
Charging, known in Colombia as imputación, is not a conviction: it is the step at which prosecutors formally announce the charges. Prosecutor Deicy Jaramillo asked for homicide combined with attempted aggravated homicide and cited three aggravating factors: an abject motive, cruelty and a victim under 13. Semana, by contrast, mentions only aggravated homicide. The maximum prison term would be 60 years.
Prosecutors say a delivery man, allegedly hired by Guzmán, dropped off the fruit at the home of a family in northern Bogotá, and that presenting it as a gift was false. Guzmán has said she has nothing to do with the poisoning.
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| April 2025 | Two girls die in Bogotá of acute thallium poisoning |
| Dec. 5, 2025 | Prosecutors name her as the alleged culprit |
| Dec. 17, 2025 | She is located and detained in London on an Interpol red notice |
| January 2026 | Extradition proceedings begin before Westminster Magistrates' Court |
| Oct. 19, 2026 | Prosecutors file the request to bring charges |
Guzmán remains in HMP Bronzefield prison in London. Extradition has gotten complicated by the guarantees British courts require and the prison conditions Colombia would offer. That is why prosecutors asked for a virtual hearing, with Guzmán connected from the United Kingdom.
Attorney General Luz Adriana Camargo said they have "certain evidence of another case" from about a year ago and that it could be a serial killing. That is a line of investigation, not a charge.
The hearing has no date. Jaramillo asked the judge to give ample notice so the connection can be arranged with the prosecutors' International Affairs Office.
