Former Senate President Charlie Rodríguez is the star witness in a high-profile domestic violence murder in Barranquilla, Colombia, which took place in the early morning hours of January 1.

The crime has shocked all of Colombia since it involved Colombian fashion designer Clarena Acosta, 43, and businessman Samuel Viñas, 46. The public was further shocked when the prosecutor’s office did not incarcerate him even though he had confessed to the crime.

Colombian news media say Rodríguez, a lawyer and legislative adviser to Senate President Thomas Rivera Schatz, spent New Year’s Eve at the Viñas-Acosta residence, because he is in a relationship with the victim’s sister, Liliana Acosta.

The former Senate President had been married to Kathy Erazo, current director of the Senate President’s office. They were reportedly divorced after Rodríguez lost in his effort to become the New Progressive Party’s 2008 candidate for Resident Commissioner.

Rodríguez could not be reached for comment. But in a radio interview on Thursday, Rodríguez said the confessed murderer had told him his wife was being unfaithful. 

Viñas later invited him to the couple’s bedroom so he could witness what would happen next, Rodríguez added.

“[Viñas] started saying the same thing he had told me, but a bit more incoherently. He seemed to be calm, but he became more agitated as he kept on talking. I bowed my head and when I looked again he had already pulled out the gun. He pulls it [the gun] out and says: ‘This ends now.’

“His daughter Laura hurls herself in front of her mother. At the moment, [Viñas] is shouting insults. He approaches his daughter and tells her bad things … He then pulls her out of the way and points the gun at her, at his own daughter, and orders her out of the room. The girl is crying in terror.

“I tell him ‘no, not this way.’ He then hits Clarena in the face with the gun and pushes me out of the room,” Rodríguez said.

According to news reports, the victim’s sister, Liliana Acosta, said the couple had separated, but her sister had invited her ex-husband to be with them for the New Year festivities, so he could be with their three children, ages 12 to 20, who were all in the house at the time of the incident.

However, Viñas was reportedly upset that his ex-wife was planning to go to Italy to meet with her new lover, which led to a heated argument and the fatal shooting.

News media in Colombia have reported that Prosecutor Edilberto Corredor Ropero ordered Viñas to be set free, despite his confession. But last Tuesday a judge ordered Viñas to be incarcerated until the date is set for the hearing — within 60 days — where prosecutors will present the evidence against him.