13
the car on the driver's side and stopped to examine the occupants of the vehicle. 43 A few meters further on,
the motorcycle stopped again and the men began to shoot several times at the vehicle's occupants,
whereupon Joe Luis Castillo González lost control of the car and it collided with the sidewalk.44
58.
Joe Luis Castillo González was taken to Hospital Rural Dos of Machiques, where he was
admitted without vital signs.45 At 9:25 p.m. that same day, August 27, 2003, a team from the Criminal
Investigation Police (CICPC) conducted an inspection of the corpse at the morgue of Machiques General
Hospital.46 On August 28, 2003, the chief medical examiner performed a medical examination and legal
autopsy on the corpse of Joe Luis Castillo González and concluded that the cause of death was “[a]cute anemia
as a result of injuries to vascular and visceral organs (lungs and liver) caused by gunshots.” 47
59.
Yelitze Moreno de Castillo and the child Luis César Castillo Moreno had sustained gunshot
wounds and were taken to the Clinical Hospital of the city of Maracaibo in order to be operated on
surgically.48 Yelitze Moreno de Castillo presented with entrance and exit gunshot wounds to the left forearm,
the left side of her thorax, and to the left shoulder49 and remained hospitalized in the Clinical Hospital for
around one week.50
4.
Consequences and after-effects of the killing of Joe Luis Castillo González on his
workplace and family
60.
As regards the effects of his killing on his former workplace, on September 2, 2003, the
manager of the Apostolic Vicariate of Machiques, Luz Marina Márquez Frontado, told an inspector of the
Machiques CICPC Office that on September 1, 2003 a man called the office and made threats against the
Vicariate’s director, Linmay del Carmen Basabe Pérez and against Monsignor Ramiro Díaz Sánchez, Vicar of
Machiques.51 Furthermore, in a communication dated September 3, 2003, the organization CECODAP notified
the Office of the Prosecutor General of the Republic of the threats made against the Vicariate on September 1,
2003.52
43
Office of the 20th Public Prosecutor for the Judicial District of the State of Zulia, Case 24-F20-817-2003, Office of the
83rd Public Prosecutor for the Judicial District of Metropolitan Caracas, interview with Yelitze Lisbeth Moreno Cova, September 10,
2003, pp. 101-106. Annex to the petitioners’ brief received at the IACHR on June 3, 2008. Not contested by the State.
44
Office of the 20th Public Prosecutor for the Judicial District of the State of Zulia, Case 24-F20-817-2003, Office of the
83rd Public Prosecutor for the Judicial District of Metropolitan Caracas, interview with Yelitze Lisbeth Moreno Cova, September 10,
2003, pp. 101-106 and case summary, p. 24. Annexes to the petitioners’ brief received at the IACHR on June 3, 2008. Not
contested by the State.
45
Office of the 20th Public Prosecutor for the Judicial District of the State of Zulia, Case 24-F20-817-2003, police report,
August 27, 2003, pp. 7 and 8. Annex to the petitioners’ brief received at the IACHR on June 3, 2008. Not contested by the State.
46
Office of the 20th Public Prosecutor for the Judicial District of the State of Zulia, Case 24-F20-817-2003, certificate of
inspection of corpse, August 27, 2003, p. 5. Annex to the petitioners’ brief received at the IACHR on June 3, 2008. Not contested
by the State.
47
Office of the 20th Public Prosecutor for the Judicial District of the State of Zulia, Case 24-F20-817-2003, Medical
Examiner's Report 9700/1685040, September 16, 2003, pp. 68 and 69. Annex to the petitioners’ brief received at the IACHR on
June 3, 2008. Not contested by the State.
48
Office of the 20th Public Prosecutor for the Judicial District of the State of Zulia, Case 24-F20-817-2003, case summary,
p. 24 and police report, August 27, 2003, pp. 7 and 8. Annexes to the petitioners’ brief received at the IACHR on June 3, 2008. Not
contested by the State.
49
Office of the 20th Public Prosecutor for the Judicial District of the State of Zulia, Case 24-F20-817-2003, police report,
August 27, 2003, pp. 7 and 8. Annex to the petitioners’ brief received at the IACHR on June 3, 2008. Not contested by the State.
50
Psychological and Social Assistance Unit, COFAVIC, Psychological Report, June 18, 2007. Annex 1 of the petitioners’
brief on merits received at the IACHR on July 13, 2007. Not contested by the State.
51
Office of the 20th Public Prosecutor for the Judicial District of the State of Zulia, Case 24-F20-817-2003, police report,
September 2, 2003, p. 44. Annex to the petitioners’ brief received at the IACHR on June 3, 2008. Not contested by the State.
52
Office of the 20th Public Prosecutor for the Judicial District of the State of Zulia, Case 24-F20-817-2003, communication
from the Community Education Center (CECODAP) to the Office of the Prosecutor General of the Republic, September 3, 2003,
2003, pp. 121-122. Annex to the petitioners’ brief received at the IACHR on June 3, 2008. Not contested by the State.