American John Poulos, accused of murdering Colombian DJ Valentina Trespalacios and throwing her body into a garbage can, was admitted as a guest at then-President Donald Trump’s 2018 State of the Union address.
Ashley, Poulos’s still wife and from whom he is separated and in the process of divorcing, would have confirmed the information in the first statements he offered on the case to CBS this week.
According to the woman, the then spokesman for the Republicans in the House of Representatives, Paul Ryan invited them to the event on January 30 of that year, since the couple’s eldest son is a cancer survivor.
Ryan would have helped the family, who resided in Wisconsin, in the battle for the eldest of their three children to overcome the disease that struck him at the age of 4.
Specifically, the family went to the Republican leader to intervene in the process for the FDA (Federal Food and Drug Administration) to approve a new cancer treatment that would benefit the minor. Ryan’s office cooperated with the Poulos’ request, and, in the aftermath of the talks, they were the guests of the House speaker at the presidential event.
In photos reviewed by national media and shared by Ryan on Twitter, Poulos, who today faces multiple charges in Colombia including femicide, is seen smiling next to his son, his wife and the politician in Congress. In another image, Ryan is seen hugging the little boy, while his parents smile.
The family also received support from various organizations for children with cancer and raised about $60,000 in donations through a campaign on the GoFundMe page.
Neither Ryan nor other Republican leaders have spoken about the heinous crime attributed to Poulos, 35, who was detained at the Panama City airport as he was preparing to escape to Istanbul, Turkey.
In the statements to the American chain, Ashley also revealed that it was she who asked her husband for a divorce in 2021 for being abusive and after the relationship deteriorated as a result of the illness that the little boy was diagnosed with. The suspect subsequently moved to Texas and stopped looking for his children.
Regarding the fatal outcome of the Colombian, the American said she was deeply saddened. She also assured that she was unaware of the “double life” of her still-husband.
Poulos would have strangled the 23-year-old DJ on Sunday, January 22, in an apartment he rented in the north of Bogotá. The man arrived with Trespalacios at the unit on Saturday and left the next day with a shopping cart in which he was carrying a suitcase containing the victim’s body, according to images from security cameras held by the authorities.
Allegedly, Poulos acted out of jealousy after learning that Trespalaciones had a parallel relationship with the Colombian influencer Santiago Luna.
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