American who killed his girlfriend and stuffed her body into a suitcase is sentenced to 42 years in prison in Colombia for femicide

An American was sentenced to 42 years in prison in Bogota on Tuesday for the murder of a famous Colombian DJ. The case sparked outrage among women’s rights activists around the world.

John Nelson Poulos was arrested in Panama in January 2023 while fleeing Colombian authorities for the murder of 23-year-old Valentina Trespalacios, whom he had been dating for almost a year.

Prosecutors said he beat and suffocated her “in the midst of a fit of jealousy.”

Security camera footage showed Poulos leaving his apartment pushing a cart with a large suitcase inside. Trespalacios’ body had been stuffed inside.

Her body was later discovered in a dumpster.

The previous year, the non-governmental organization Colombian Femicide Observatory had registered 612 cases of femicide in the country, while the government had only registered 100.

Since 2015, femicide has been a separate crime in Colombia.

The European Institute for Gender Equality says femicides are “deeply rooted in power imbalances in society and are a reflection of what promotes an unequal status between men and women.”

According to the institute, femicide is “defined in the broadest sense as the killing of a woman or girl because of her gender and can take various forms, such as the murder of women as a result of domestic violence, the torture and misogynistic killing of women, the killing of women and girls in the name of ‘honour’, etc.”

Carlos Trespalacios, Valentina Trespalacios’ uncle, told Milwaukee-based CBS affiliate WDJT-TV in October: “Nothing will bring Valentina back, so more than anything, we want him to pay for the crime he committed and the manner in which he committed it. Second, we want to set a precedent to put an end to femicide around the world.”

The broadcaster says Poulson lived in Franklin, Wisconsin with his wife and three children before filing for divorce in 2021.