BOGOTA, June 21 (UPI) -- A Colombia man was sentenced to 40 years in prison for killing two priests who hired him and another man to murder them after one was diagnosed with AIDS.
Gildardo Alberto Penate, alias "Gavilan," and his accomplice, known only by his alias, "Gallego," had received $8,500 from Catholic priests Richard Armando Piffano and Rafael Reatiga Rojas, Colombia Reports said.
The two priests hired the two men to kill them after Reatiga was diagnosed with AIDS.
Penate confessed to murder and production, trafficking and bearing of arms, investigators said.
A witness reported seeing Gallego with one of the priests at a convenience store just before the murders, El Espectador reported.
Gallego had told police the priests several times "demonstrated their willingness to die."
Investigators said the two priests were shot in a remote location.
Colombia Reports has said investigators initially thought the two priests had been killed during a violent robbery after they were found fatally shot in the Bogota area Jan. 26, 2011.
