Colombian couple indicted on murder charges in botched cosmetic surgery

Felony indictments were returned Wednesday against a Colombian lawyer and her husband, whose unlicensed cosmetic surgery is blamed in the death of a Las Vegas woman.

Ruben Dario Matallana-Galvas, 55, who identified himself as a homeopathic doctor, and his wife, Carmen Olfidia Torres-Sanchez, 47, a lawyer with the Colombian attorney general's office, face multiple charges, including second-degree murder, conspiracy and practicing medicine without a license.

Prosecutor Mark DiGiacomo said that Matallana-Galvas did not have a license to perform plastic surgery in Colombia and that his wife is being terminated from her job as a federal prosecutor in that country.

DiGiacomo said they might have performed hundreds of illegal plastic surgery procedures in the past.

Authorities allege Matallana-Galvas and his wife flew into Las Vegas to operate an illegal medical practice in April and performed plastic surgery on Elena Caro, 42, that led to Caro's death.

Caro died April 9 shortly after Matallana-Galvas injected her with "a gel type substance" in an illegal buttocks enhancement procedure in a backroom of a Las Vegas tile store, authorities said.

Torres-Sanchez is accused of helping her husband perform the procedure.

Family members said Caro learned of the service from advertising at a local beauty salon.

Las Vegas police arrested the couple at McCarran International Airport on April 10 as they tried to change previously purchased tickets to return to Colombia.

District Judge Linda Bell set bail for the two defendants at $500,000 each. If they are able to post bail, Bell ordered a hearing to determine whether the money came from illegal medical procedures.

The two defendants are at the Clark County Detention Center.

Contact reporter Francis McCabe at fmccabe@review
journal.com or 702-380-1039.