6 men accused of murdering Ecuadorean presidential candidate found dead in prison

The six Colombian nationals who were accused of murdering Ecuadorean presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio were found dead in prison last week. 

Villavicencio was a leading anti-corruption figure in the country and was seeking to lead Ecuador as the candidate for the Build Ecuador Movement in the Aug. 20 election. He was gunned down at a political rally in Quito.

Authorities captured the six men in a Quito home, The Associated Press reported. At the site, they discovered four shotguns, a rifle, ammunition and grenades.

Current president of Ecuador, Guillermo Lasso, announced he would hold an immediate meeting of the security cabinet after learning about the alleged killers' deaths. 

"Neither complicity nor cover-up,” he wrote on X, formerly called Twitter. “The truth will be known here.”

The prison authority said in its statement, it would “identify those responsible for the crime against the former candidate.”