A WOMAN accused of killing two schoolgirls in Colombia with poisoned raspberries allegedly made plans to flee Britain for Brazil after being hauled from the River Thames, it has emerged.
Zulma Guzman, 54, was reportedly flagged by authorities after buying a plane ticket to South America following her dramatic rescue near Battersea Bridge.
A leading Colombian TV journalist has now claimed Guzman jumped into the river last month to evade police – not to take her own life as previously suggested.
Maria Elvira Aranga, who presents Caracol Television’s Los Informantes, said the accused killer was trying to escape officers who had approached her in London.
She said: “A very good Interpol contact has told me it’s not true that in mid-December Zulma Guzman who is accused of poisoning three girls in Bogota with thallium threw herself into the River Thames in an attempted suicide.
“The police approached Guzman, who had left with a package she was going to leave somewhere, to tell her she was wanted in Colombia and that’s when she jumped into the river to escape them.”
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Guzman remains behind bars in Kent after refusing to consent to extradition to Colombia, where she is wanted over the alleged murders of Ines de Bedout, 14, and her 13-year-old friend Emilia Forero.
Prosecutors claim the girls died after eating chocolate-covered raspberries laced with the heavy metal thallium at Ines’ family home in Bogota on April 3 last year.
Guzman is also accused of attempting to murder a third girl, who reportedly survived but was left with life-changing injuries.
Colombian investigators allege the attacks were an act of revenge after Guzman was dumped by Ines’ father, financier Juan de Bedout, following an extra-marital affair.
Aranga claimed Guzman was only formally arrested after hospital treatment, and after buying a flight out of the country.
She added: “Before she could be held she bought a plane ticket to Brazil.
“That raised a red flag with Interpol and she was detained.
“The extradition process could take some time but the Colombian authorities are confident Zulma Guzman will return to explain what happened.”
Guzman had travelled to the UK via Argentina and Spain, entering through Manchester Airport on November 11.
Her son is believed to be studying at a private school in Britain.
She was already wanted internationally at the time and had been identified as the prime suspect in Colombia, according to reports.
The businesswoman appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on January 6, wearing a black jacket and striped top, where she spoke only to confirm her identity and formally refuse extradition.
District Judge Sarah Turnock remanded her in custody, and a case management hearing is scheduled for February 9.
Prosecutor Rosemary Davidson told the court Guzman had previously been detained under the Mental Health Act after jumping from Battersea Bridge and was held at St Charles Mental Health Hospital under psychiatric observation.
Authorities in Colombia are also investigating whether Guzman may be linked to the death of Juan de Bedout’s wife, psychologist Alicia Graham Sardi, who died in August 2021.
A former family doctor has claimed tests revealed inexplicably high levels of thallium in her body after she began losing her hair and suffering severe leg pain before her death.
Her body was cremated, which experts say could complicate any future prosecution.
Guzman has denied all allegations.
In an interview given while she was on the run, she told Focus Noticias: “I am a mother, and that must be unbearable pain, and I understand that for that reason they want to find the culprit and use all possible means to do so, but I am not that culprit.
“The strategy is clearly to completely destroy me before any legal proceedings, to destroy my image and give a version that would destroy me without any trial, without any guarantee of a fair trial at this time.”
A Met Police spokesman previously said officers were called to reports of a woman in distress on Battersea Bridge at 6.45am on December 16 and that she was recovered from the water shortly after 7.14am.
An NCA spokesman confirmed: “Zulma Guzman Castro, aged 54, has today been arrested by officers from the NCA’s National Extradition Unit (NEU).
“Castro, who is wanted by the Colombian authorities in relation to murder and attempted murder, was arrested in the W10 area of London.”
Investigations in Colombia are ongoing.
