Interpol has issued a notice for a businesswoman who has been accused of sending poisoned raspberries to a luxury flat and killing two teen girls
12:14, 06 Dec 2025Updated 12:24, 06 Dec 2025
A businesswoman has been accused of killing two schoolgirls with fruit(Image: Youtube/Autos Rodando)
A businesswoman has been accused of killing two schoolgirls by gifting them poisoned chocolate-covered raspberries in an “act of vengeance”.
Zulma Guzman Castro allegedly killed the teens following a failed affair with the dad of one of her alleged victims. Ines de Bedout, 14, and her 13-year-old friend Emilia Forero died in hospital after eating a dessert laced with thallium – a colourless and odourless heavy metal initially linked to the poisoning of former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko, in 2006. Forensic experts have determined the heavy metal was deliberately injected into the raspberries before they were delivered to a luxury apartment in Bogota, Colombia.
The victims had been playing at the flat after school finished for the day, on April 3, and they died less than a week later.
An Interpol Red Notice was issued for the businesswoman(Image: Interpol)
Following tests that pointed to the teens being murdered, Colombia’s prosecution service asked Interpol to arrest university graduate Guzman. It is said she fled the country to her homeland of Argentina and an Interpol Red Notice was issued for her.
Local reports have suggested the double homicides were a possible crime of passion because Guzman, who founded a car sharing company called Car-B, allegedly had an affair with Ines’ dad Juan de Bedout.
It was also reported that investigators are also now probing the death of Juan’s wife, who died two years before the girls, amid speculation she too could have been the victim of thallium poisoning, according to local paper El Colombiano.
Guzman, who is protesting her innocence, is understood to have spent time in Brazil, Spain and the UK since leaving Colombia earlier this year.
The woman was accused of having an affair with one of the victim’s dads(Image: Youtube/Autos Rodando)
The businesswoman, in a message reported by Colombia outlets last night, said: “I find myself in the middle of a very serious situation, where I’m being accused of having been the person who sent a poison that killed two girls.
“They accuse me of having fled to Argentina, and then to Brazil, Spain and the UK. Those who know me know I haven’t fled anywhere. They know I’ve been working in Argentina and began a masters in journalism here.
“I went to Spain more than a month ago, with a stopover in Brazil, and then to the UK because of my son. I imagine they’re accusing me because I had a secret relationship with the father of one of the girls.
“Public prosecutors have never informed me about any investigation and I sent a lawyer friend of mine yesterday to ask, because I heard rumours people were talking about me. The following day my name is in the media. I hope those that know me support me and defend me.”
Another friend and one of the victim’s brothers, 21, were also hospitalised after eating the raspberries but survived – although the girl who cheated death is understood to have suffered lasting injuries.
Prosecutors allege Guzman, who left Colombia on April 13, used a courier firm to deliver the fruit dessert. The delivery man told investigators he was given the package containing the raspberries by a friend of the fugitive and advised it was a present for them because the dessert was one of their favourites.
Guzman has been described as a long-term friend of Ines’ family who knew their daily routine and was aware the youngster loved chocolate-covered raspberries.
The package was delivered to the girls just after 7pm local time on April 3 after they reportedly rejected an earlier attempt to hand it to them saying they weren’t expecting anything.
The Red Notice orders police in Interpol’s 196 member countries to locate and detain Guzman, whose current whereabouts are unclear.