Kriti Mehrotra
With ‘Broken Idol: The Undoing of Diomedes Diaz’ examining the rise and fall of one of Colombia’s most celebrated musicians, the peculiar case of Doris Adriana Niño comes to light as well. After all, the accusation of him being responsible for the young woman’s unexpected 1997 demise was the facet that turned the vallenato singer-songwriter’s world upside down. But he was not the only one charged with having a hand in the matter; his bodyguards, Mauricio Botía and Oswaldo Alvarez, were also amongst those indicted — so now, let’s find out more about them, shall we?
Who Are Mauricio Botía and Oswaldo Alvarez?
Back in 1997, both Héctor Mauricio Botía as well as Oswaldo Alvarez Rueda were working for Diomedes Diaz as his bodyguards/escorts, which meant that they were essentially responsible for making his life easier. That’s why, when he asked for Doris Adriana Niño to be picked up from her home and brought to his Bogotá flat at around 9:30 or 10 pm on May 14, an on-duty Oswaldo fulfilled the task, as per the Netflix original. He then woke up Mauricio because his shift was over, yet if his narrative is to be believed, he didn’t leave the premise until dawn— roughly 4 in the morning.
However, the truth is that the bodyguards’ tales vary a lot, as evidenced in the documentary by the fact that Oswaldo later claimed he went to pick up Doris at around midnight. He even admitted to lying to the officials by stating, “The first version of the story that was given was that she had left for her house. But since I was under pressure, I told the truth about what happened.” The guard then went on to detail how he had agreed to drive Doris to Tunja at dawn, and that’s when she told him about her fight with Luz Martinez before “drinking and doing cocaine” in the back seat.
“Later, I saw in the rearview mirror that she was already asleep,” Oswaldo remarked in the Netflix original. “So I just let her rest, and when we got to Tunja, I tried to wake her up… She didn’t answer me, and I thought it was easier to just find a trail, put her under a tree, and leave her there.” He then explained how her pants had rolled down after getting caught on rocks/a bush as he was dragging her, but a witness (in the movie) had implied that Doris was simply dumped. All these accumulated, and the bodyguard duo was eventually found guilty of false testimony and concealment.
Where Are Mauricio Botía and Oswaldo Alvarez Now?
Both Héctor Mauricio Botía and Oswaldo Alvarez Rueda were sentenced to seven years each for their offenses, especially because Doris was not just slain but also sexually assaulted. Nevertheless, while Oswaldo only served four years before being granted release, according to ‘Broken Idol,’ Mauricio took advantage of the prison system benefits by pursuing further studies and just serving three months per year. The two men are thus free Columbian natives now, and all we know since they prefer to keep away from the limelight as much as possible is that Oswaldo resides in Bucaramanga, Santander.
