60. For his part, Mr. González, “a distinguished active member of the National Guard [...]assigned to Intelligence Base No. 36 G.N of [Machiques]” stated, with regard to Mr. Terán, that […] these guys are paracos (paramilitaries) hired by various cattle ranchers in the area; Mayor Toto Márquez knows about it, and in fact his own drivers take these guys to and from different places; they have come to cleanse Machiques of all the scum; they are scary guys because they don’t respect anybody. The comments made by the alleged paramilitary and the National Guard were recorded in a “police investigation report” drafted on September 15, 2003. 61. On September 15, 16 and 17, 2003 documents were issued containing: a) the results of the “hematology and blood group” tests carried out on samples taken from the car driven by Mr. Castillo; b) the “medical examination and legal autopsy” performed on Mr. Castillo’s corpse, and c) the results of the “expert examination and appraisal” carried out on the car driven by Mr. Castillo. 62. On September 18, 2003 the 20th Prosecutor’s Office asked the CICPC to “appoint experts […] to carry out urgent tests on the trajectory of the bullets.” To this end, it sent the CICPC a “copy of the report on the autopsy” performed on Mr. Castillo’s body. 63. That same day, the Chief of the 83rd Prosecutor’s Office and the Assistant Attorney of th the 20 Prosecutor’s Office carried out several procedures, including: a) a meeting with the Senior Prosecutor of the State Zulia “exchanging views regarding the investigations carried out and/or to be carried out”; b) a meeting with the commissioners of the Machiques branch of the CICPC, in which they “established the guidelines to be followed in the investigation”, and c) another “interview” with an employee of the Vicariate. 64. On September 19, 2003, at 9:00 am, members of the 20th and 83rd Prosecutor’s Office appeared before the “Sixth Court on Criminal Control Matters of the Judicial District of the State of Zulia,” in order to “verify the legality” of “the alternative measure of release on bail granted to the alleged paramilitary who was “interviewed” on 12th of the same month and year (supra para. 59), “given that [he] might allegedly be involved in the murder of [Mr.] Castillo.” 65. On September 21, 2003 a report was published in the press about the incident, which suggested that Mr. Castillo had been murdered by people associated with Colombian paramilitary units because of his presumed ties to members of Colombian guerrilla groups. According to the report, these paramilitary groups had a list and were killing everyone in the area linked to the guerrillas. In this regard, the press reported that Mr. Castillo had provided lodging in his home for two Colombian citizens linked to Colombia’s FARC guerrillas in his home – including one who was nicknamed “the nurse” – and that both Colombian citizens were subsequently murdered.34 66. On September 22 or 23, 200335 staff of the Third Court of First Instance of the Criminal Judicial Circuit of the State of Miranda telephoned the 83rd Prosecutor’s Office to report that "a precautionary measure in favor of [Mrs.] Moreno had been agreed.” 34 Cf. Newspaper report published in “El Universal” on September 21, entitled “Joe Castillo: 11 gunshots (File of attachments to the Merits Report, Annex 16, page 375). 35 Among the evidence forwarded to the Court are several documents that suggest that both the telephone information provided and the agreement on the measure of protection had been carried out on September 22 or 23 of the same year. 17