BOGOTA ( Army Officer Arrested for Murder of Colombian Journalist )

BOGOTA – A retired army officer accused of being one of the people involved in the 1999 murder of popular journalist and political humorist Jaime Garzon was captured Thursday after a decade on the run, the Colombian Attorney General’s Office said.

Jorge Eliecer Plazas Acevedo was arrested in San Martin, a town in the central province of Meta, Deputy Attorney General Jorge Perdomo told reporters.

Plazas became a fugitive from justice after escaping in 2003 while serving a 40-year sentence for the murder of Israeli businessman Benjamin Khoudari.

Perdomo said that Plazas’ capture came after a joint operation with the National Police and after a year of investigation that eventually enabled authorities to locate him via intercepted telephone calls.

Garzon, an attorney and peace activist known for his devastating impersonations of political figures, was fatally shot on Aug. 13, 1999, in Bogota while on his way to work at now-defunct broadcaster RadioNet.

At the time of the murder, Plazas was working as the head of intelligence for the army’s 13th Brigade, according to the AG’s office.