There has been a new development in the case of a Peruvian man accused of killing a B.C. woman.
The accused, Christopher Franz Bettocchi, has now written an email to Global News insisting he is innocent.
“I am in Peru, just waiting for the trial to start,” he wrote.
“Once the trial is over and I can finally prove my innocence; when that moment comes, I will start legal actions against those who have defamed me and against those who have given false statements about my name and integrity.”
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Bettocchi is accused of murdering his common law partner, Kimberlee Kasatkin. Global News has been unable to confirm the status of the couple’s children.
Bettocchi is facing a charge of femicide, the crime of killing a woman under Peruvian law.
A court order has now been issued for Bettocchi’s return to prison. A different judge, in another jurisdiction, released him in June, citing insufficient grounds for detention.
The last time Kastatkin spoke with her family was in Nov. 2016. Her body has never been found.
Evidence in the case includes a video that allegedly depicts Bettocchi dragging a body in a bag. He has denied that allegation, claiming the bag had camping equipment in it.
“I want him in court and we will abide by whatever decision the court makes, but I think Kim deserves to have her day in court,” Kasatkin’s mother Kathy told Global News last week.
The couple’s two children are five and eight years old.
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In his email, Bettocchi claims the “… Department of Protection of Minors undergoes monthly evaluations on my children’s physical and emotional well being…” and that “… my children are at home, which has been the same place the Kasatkin’s have visited in several occasions in the past year and a half.”
Global News has requested proof of these claims, and is awaiting Bettocchi’s reply. Bettocchi has also yet to reply to a number of direct questions from Global News, including the whereabouts of Ms. Kasatkin, his own exact whereabouts and why he has not turned himself in if he is innocent.
The children’s Canadian grandparents, who are from Abbotsford, are concerned because they say they haven’t heard from the children in more than four months.
They last saw them in Peru at the end of May. They are now flying to Lima with the hopes of seeing their grandkids. They have also launched legal action for custody.