The Murder of Luis Choy

The killing in Pueblo Libre

Luis Choy worked as a photojournalist for the Peruvian newspaper El Comercio. On the afternoon of February 23, 2013, he was attacked outside his home in the Pueblo Libre district of Lima. Contemporary reporting from El Comercio and Peru's state news agency Andina described an assailant approaching him near his vehicle and fleeing after the shooting.

Police initially ruled out a simple robbery because Choy's vehicle and possessions were not taken. Investigators from homicide and other specialist units began examining a targeted-killing theory.

The investigation turns to a contract killing

Within weeks, police announced arrests and said they had identified the man believed to have carried out the shooting. Investigative reporting based on the police case file described a coordinated plan in which Choy was contacted under the pretext of discussing a vehicle he had offered for sale.

Police attributed the shooting to Lindomar Hernández Jiménez, also identified in contemporary reporting by aliases including “Puerto Rico.” Statements attributed to Hernández became part of the case against other alleged participants. He later died in a confrontation with police after escaping custody, meaning he never received a final homicide judgment in the Choy case.

Conviction of Luis Bada Ccaccya

The prosecution continued against other participants. In November 2015, a Lima criminal chamber sentenced Luis Bada Ccaccya to 25 years in prison for qualified homicide. Later court reporting stated that judges found Bada responsible for transporting Hernández and other participants to the scene.

That conviction established criminal responsibility for a participant in the operation even though the alleged gunman himself had died before trial could conclude.

Capture and conviction of Carlos Aldabe Ugarte

Carlos Augusto Aldabe Ugarte, known as “Fortachón,” remained at large for years. He was captured in Tumbes in January 2019. On April 2, 2019, the Fourth Criminal Chamber of the Lima Superior Court sentenced him to 28 years and four months in prison for the murder of Luis Choy and ordered payment of 100,000 soles in civil compensation to Choy's heirs.

RPP and El Comercio, citing the court, reported that Aldabe had hired the gunmen who killed Choy. The judicial finding therefore went beyond mere suspicion: it established his criminal responsibility in the contract-killing arrangement.

Motive and limits of the record

Early police reporting discussed a possible dispute involving money and other alleged activities. Those theories were part of the investigation, not independent proof of wrongdoing by Choy. Crime by Region does not present speculative or stigmatizing claims about the victim as established fact.

The convictions provide a strong basis for classifying the murder as adjudicated as to identified participants. At the same time, reporting from different stages used terms such as “intellectual author,” intermediary and person who hired the gunmen inconsistently. This dossier therefore states only the roles clearly supported by the cited court reporting rather than constructing a broader command chain that the reviewed judgments do not establish with equal clarity.

Current status

Solved / adjudicated. The homicide produced criminal convictions against participants in the operation, including Carlos Aldabe Ugarte and Luis Bada Ccaccya. The page does not convert early investigative theories or statements by deceased suspects into additional judicial findings.

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