Alleged murderer of UC economist to be arraigned this morning

SANTIAGO.- At 11:00 this morning, José Ruiz Rodíguez will be arraigned at the 8th Penalty Court of the Justice Center on charges for the murder of an economist from the Universidad Católica, Diego Schmidt-Hebbel, which took place yesterday morning.

44 year-old Ruiz, who has previous criminal records for fraud and mugging and has also been linked to a strip club in downtown Santiago, confessed this morning to killing 25 year-old Schmidt-Hebbel, but has not specified his motive for the crime.

According to Officer Francisco Sepúlveda, who is heading up the investigation, detectives belonging to the Homicide Brigade identified the killer after following up on a tip involving a red Kia Pride vehicle that the attacker used to flee the scene of the crime.

An eye-witness to the murder, which took place outside a building where Diego Scmidt-Hebbel's 22 year-old girlfriend lives, memorized the license plate number of the vehicle and turned the information over to police who were able to identify the owner of the car – a convicted criminal that is currently being held in the Colina justice center. The convict told police that he had sold the Kia Pride to Ruz Rodríguez, although the transfer had still not been made official.