Hitmen behind assassination of Ecuadorian candidate killed in prison

Oct. 7 (UPI) -- Six accused hitmen being held in prison for the August assassination of an Ecuadorian presidential candidate were found dead inside their cells, authorities have confirmed.

Ecuadorian prison officials did not specify the cause of death of the Colombian prisoners on Friday, but the Spanish newspaper El País reported the six men were hanged.

The detainees had previously requested a transfer out of Ecuador's notorious Guayaquil prison where they were being held, to a more secure facility. The request was denied.

The prison in Ecuador's largest city is controlled by criminal gangs and has been rife with violence. The facility is home to more than 5,700 inmates and the six had been held there since their arrests in September.

The six men were arrested shortly after the assassination of Ecuadorian presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio. A seventh Colombian, believed to be the triggerman, was shot by police at the scene, later dying there.

Villavicencio, 59, was a former journalist campaigning on an anti-corruption ticket. He was killed mid-afternoon during a political rally in the country's capital of Quito just days before the election.

Despite the arrests of the six Colombians, it remains unknown who ordered the murder.

In late September, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced a $5 million reward for information leading to "the arrest or conviction of co-conspirators and masterminds behind the assassination of Ecuadorian presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio."

Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso said on social media he was cutting short a visit to New York City and returning to Quito.

"I have ordered an immediate meeting of the Security Cabinet. In the next few hours I will return to Ecuador to attend to this emergency. Neither complicity nor cover-up, here the truth will be known," Lasso wrote in the post.

Lasso was elected to a second term in 2021, but announced in 2023 he would step down amid impeachment proceedings.

Ecuador is scheduled to hold a national election Oct. 15.

Former president Rafael Correa previously accused Lasso of being behind the murder of his political rival.

"If they are Villavicencio's hitmen, it confirms that the government was behind the crime," Correa said Friday before the bodies of the six men were identified.