Jorge Carpio Nicolle, newspaper owner and publisher and a founder member of the centrist political party, the Union del Centro Nacional (UCN), was murdered with three other men on 3 July 1993. The government first attributed the murders to the armed opposition, then to common deliquents. Thirteen people were arrested in July 1993 but subsequently found not to have been involved in the killings. The families of the victims believed that they had been made scapegoats to cover up deficiencies in the official investigations. The families decided to carry out a private investigation. They presented evidence that members of G-2 military intelligence and members of the Civil Defence Patrols were responsible. Since the killings, relatives of those killed have been subjected to repeated death threats and harassment. Judicial and security force officials investigating the killings have also been targeted. The attacks have intensified since 11 October, on which the first phase of the trial proceedings began.
