The Murders of Mauricio Leal and Marleny Hernández
Stylist Mauricio Leal and his mother, Marleny Hernández Tabares, were found dead at their home outside Bogotá in November 2021. Prosecutors said the scene had been manipulated to resemble a murder-suicide. Mauricio's brother Yhonier Leal was convicted in 2024 and sentenced to more than 55 years, but the defence announced an appeal and later renewed its challenge after a previously unpublished video became public.
Mauricio Leal Hernández was a prominent Colombian hairstylist. He lived with his mother, Marleny Hernández Tabares, in a house in La Calera, Cundinamarca. Their deaths in November 2021 were first presented at the scene in a way that suggested Mauricio had killed his mother and then himself. The Fiscalía General de la Nación later rejected that interpretation and prosecuted Mauricio's brother and Marleny's son, Yhonier Rodolfo Leal Hernández, for both killings.
The deaths and the altered-scene theory
The victims were found inside the La Calera residence on November 22, 2021. Investigators examined the timing of entries to the property, digital evidence, the condition of the scene, documents and other forensic material. The Fiscalía ultimately alleged that Yhonier killed his mother and brother and then altered the scene to suggest a murder-suicide.
Those details are presented here as the prosecution theory where appropriate. The criminal trial later accepted that theory sufficiently to convict Yhonier, but the defence has continued to dispute the reconstruction.
An initial admission, then a retraction
In January 2022, during court proceedings after his arrest, Yhonier accepted responsibility under a proposed agreement with prosecutors. He later withdrew that acceptance and maintained his innocence, so the case proceeded to trial rather than ending on the original admission.
The shifting position is legally significant. Crime by Region does not treat the initial acceptance alone as the basis for guilt; the relevant judicial milestone is the later conviction after trial.
The 2024 conviction
On June 14, 2024, the Fiscalía announced that a Bogotá judge had sentenced Yhonier Leal to more than 55 years in prison after finding him responsible for the aggravated murders of Mauricio and Marleny and for concealment, destruction or alteration of material evidence. Contemporary reports specify the sentence as 55 years and three months.
The court accepted the prosecution's argument that the crime scene had been manipulated. After sentencing, Yhonier and his defence announced that they would appeal. The conviction therefore represents a first-instance adjudication rather than a basis for claiming that all appellate litigation is finished.
The video disclosed publicly in 2024
In August 2024, Colombian media published a video recorded on Mauricio's phone during his final hours. In the longer version reported by news organizations, Mauricio appears to address another person near the end of the recording. The defence argued that the video supported renewed challenges to the conviction and accused prosecutors of failing to use important evidence at trial.
The Fiscalía responded that the material had been part of the evidence disclosed to the defence during the criminal process, while explaining that technical issues affected extraction or use of the file. The appearance of the video in public did not itself vacate the judgment. It created a new evidentiary dispute around a conviction that was already being appealed.
What is established and what remains contested
It is established that Mauricio Leal and Marleny Hernández were killed, that Yhonier Leal was tried and convicted in 2024, and that the trial court imposed a sentence exceeding 55 years. It is also established from reporting on the sentencing hearing that the defence announced an appeal.
What should not be overstated is the final appellate status. In the reliable sources reviewed for this file, no later merits judgment was located that conclusively disposed of the announced appeal. For that reason, the archive classifies the matter as Partially adjudicated / Trial conviction under appeal.
Timeline
- Mauricio and Marleny are killed
The victims die at their La Calera home and are found on November 22.
- Yhonier is arrested and initially accepts responsibility
He later retracts that acceptance, and the case proceeds to trial.
- Trial proceedings
Prosecutors present forensic, digital and circumstantial evidence to argue that the scene was manipulated after a double homicide.
- Conviction and sentence
A judge sentences Yhonier Leal to more than 55 years for aggravated homicide and evidence-related offences.
- Defence announces appeal
Yhonier and his lawyer state that the conviction will be challenged.
- Previously unpublished video becomes public
The recording prompts a new dispute over the evidence and how it was handled during the case.
Current status
Yhonier Leal remains a person convicted at trial of the aggravated murders of Mauricio Leal and Marleny Hernández and of an evidence-related offence. Because an appeal was announced and later reporting continued to describe challenges to the judgment, this page does not label the conviction as finally exhausted through every appellate stage.
The video that became public in 2024 is evidence under dispute, not an automatic exoneration. Likewise, a first-instance conviction is a real judicial finding but should not be described as a final appellate judgment unless the later record supports that statement.
Sources and further reading
- Fiscalía General de la Nación — official account of the 2022 investigation and initial acceptance of responsibility
- Fiscalía General de la Nación — June 14, 2024 bulletin announcing the conviction and sentence
- EL PAÍS Colombia — sentencing report, June 14, 2024
- El Espectador — defence challenge after the video became public, August 12, 2024
- El Tiempo — Fiscalía response about the video and disclosure to the defence
Last reviewed: August 29, 2026