The wife of John Nelson Poulos, the US citizen accused of the femicide of his lover, the Colombian DJ Valentina Tres Palacios, said this week in a statement that she was "unaware of the double life that the 35-year-old man led" in the Latin American country.
Poulos was arrested last week in Panama and later extradited to Colombia to face charges for the murder of Trespalacios, with whom he was romantically involved.
The 21-year-old emerging artist was found inside a suitcase abandoned in a garbage dump in Bogotá, the capital of Colombia.
Poulos was described by his wife, Ashley Poulos, as "abusive."
In a statement she delivered to CBS on Tuesday, she added that she was "deeply saddened" by the young woman's murder.
Photo provided by the Attorney General's Office showing the arrest of US citizen John Nelson Poulos, the main suspect in the murder of Colombian DJ Valentina Trespalacios, on January 26, 2023. Attorney General's Office / Attorney General's Office EFE
The Poulos have been married since 2009 and have three children, one of whom is a survivor of a rare childhood cancer and was Republican leader Paul Ryan's guest of honor during the State of the Union address in 2018. The politician helped the family so that the then 4-year-old boy, J. Poulos, received an experimental treatment that helped him overcome the disease.
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Poulos appeared smiling in photos next to her son and Ryan during then-President Donald Trump's speech in 2018. The family also received support from various organizations for children with cancer and around $60,000 from people who donated to the cause through of the GoFundMe platform, which has stopped accepting contributions.
Colombian DJ Valentina Trespalacios, 23, during one of her concerts.Instagram
However, his wife says that the marriage deteriorated after the boy's illness.
"The relationship between John and I was abusive, which led me to file for divorce in 2021," she
told CBS.
The woman also recounted that Poulos transferred all the family funds to a trust outside the country, leaving them "with nothing."
"John abandoned his children and has not seen them in person since he left Wisconsin in January 2021. His actions triggered a terrible divorce proceeding that has not yet been finalized," added Ashley Poulos.
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Trespalacios and Poulos met on a dating app and were dating for about a year, during which time they saw each other in person about four times in Mexico and Colombia, before moving in together on January 20.
A friend of the Colombian DJ told detectives that he was "jealous and possessive."
According to Billboard magazine, Valentina Trespalacios had "an overwhelming and mesmerizing personality."
The publication claimed that she was a "pioneer about to take off" in the world of music.
Valentina Trespalacios has become another symbol of gender violence in Colombia, a country where more than 600 femicides have been registered in the last year, almost two a day, according to data from the Colombian Femicide Observatory, cited by The Washington Post. .