‘Case Colmenares’: the unsolved crime that Netflix adapted

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The second part of the series Crime Diaries caused controversy when talking about a topic as recent and unresolved as it is the 'Case Colmenares'

Crime Diaries: Night Out premiered last Friday, May 3 on Netflix. The story is about a crime in Colombia that happened on Halloween (October 31) in 2010 and still has many points unresolved. In it, a young student from one of the most prestigious universities in the capital died and others seem to be involved.

Leer en español: ‘Caso Colmenares’: el crimen sin resolver que llegó a Netflix

This crime, still without guilt, occurred in a park in the north of Bogotá, where Luis Andrés Colmenares was found in an open pipe. The series recounts the judicial process that ends up involving two women close to the young Colmenares and the ex-boyfriend of one of them that is presumed to be the guilty one.

The series, Crime Diaries, original of the platform, will have several deliveries that will talk about different crimes that have happened in real life. The first was Colosio, the murder story of Luis Donaldo Colosio, a candidate for the Mexican presidency in 1994.

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This second season has been very well received in Colombia, largely due to the number of unsolved questions that still exist nine years later. However, it has also brought criticism as it is an open investigation and has even been labeled as a sensationalist act in public opinion. The process of compiling the story was also news, as the family of Luis Andrés Colmenares affirmed that Netflix and the producer did not ask for authorization.

The controversy

The case has caused controversy for the mediatic effect it has caused since the beginning. Since it happened, in 2010, the media has publicized the hearings, the sentences and the families have publicly declared their disagreements. In addition, discussions about buying witnesses and irregularities from both sides have taken place, which has made it difficult to carry out a transparent process.

As for the series, the Colmenares family spokesman, Jorge Colmenares, the victim's brother, has publicly said that they were dissatisfied, but that they would wait to see the series in order to communicate with the public. What causes the most controversy, no matter how the plot of the series was handled, is that the investigation has not yet solved many questions that for the family are fundamental to the way in which the story should be told.

However, Netflix has not created the series to try to show a guilty, or to exonerate anyone. The series seeks to show an account of how the case has worked. Added to that, in each chapter it is explicitly stated that, although it is based on real events, not everything is real. This way they avoid any possible complaints of the story, as it is classified as 'fictional'.

The message reads as follows: "This series is inspired by real events. The events and characters represented in relation to the death of Luis Andrés Colmenares have been taken to fiction to portray one of the most controversial cases in the history of Colombia. The scenes shown are not intended to be a true reflection of reality. Some of the names have been modified with the purpose of showing a widely known fictitious version, without affecting the good name and privacy of those people who, associated with the story, are not known by the public. The existence of some of the passages and characters are the product of creativity, fiction, and narrative purposes. The procedural truth about the Colmenares case lies in the case files and judicial decisions."

Despite the fact that the message implies that the Colmenares case is simply used as inspiration, it is intriguing that the names of the principals involved remained the same, as was that of Laura Moreno or Luis Andrés Colmenares.

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What does the Colmenares family say?

After the premiere and that the public speculated if the Colmenares family would sue Netflix or not for using the names and the history without authorization, the Colmenares family pronounced itself in an official statement. In it, they reiterate once again that authorization was never requested. In addition, it clarifies certain points that, to their consideration, are not made explicit in the series but are already proven, as the signs of violence in face and body. Likewise, they bring up the guilt in a certain sense of Jessy Quintero and Laura Moreno, even if only for being witnesses or shutting things they knew.

However, they also affirm that "the series managed to show a situation that Jorge Luis (the brother of Luis Andrés Colmenares) has been denouncing and fighting, in the sense that there are dangers to which children and young people may be facing (. ..) But there is a lack of knowledge and lack of attention on the part of the authorities to carry out any action in this regard. "

Finally, the family hopes that the series will not influence the case in any way, which will depend on the Court's independence.

In any case, according to hundreds of people have shown up in the social networks of Jorge Luis Colmenares, the series ends by leaving open the door to what happened, they can not dictate anything that is not explicitly proven in the case. However, they do show that what happened to Colmenares was not an accident and help people to know the pain of the family.

LatinAmerican Post | Juliana Suárez

Translated from "‘Caso Colmenares’: el crimen sin resolver que llegó a Netflix"