Sucre was killed on June 4, 1830. General Juan José Flores wanted to separate the southern departments (Quito, Guayaquil, and Azuay), called the District of Ecuador, from the Gran Colombia so as to form an independent country and become its first President. General Flores foresaw that if Antonio José de Sucre arrived in Quito from Bogota, he could thwart his plans, since Sucre was very popular due to his reputation as hero and leader in the Battles of Pichincha, Tarqui and Ayacucho. General Juan José Flores put himself in contact with the anti-Bolívar and anti-Sucre leader Brigadier-General and the Commanding General of Cauca, José María Obando, who was not present at Sucre's death but who delegated this criminal act to the Venezuelan Colonel Apolinar Morillo. Commander Juan Gregorio Sarria (who later confessed he had been paid by Obando), José Erazo (a highway bandit and guerrilla fighter), and three peons as accomplices. The plan was to ambush José Antonio de Sucre on the morning of June 4, 1830, in the cold and bleak forested district of Berruecos, along a narrow path that was perennially covered with fog.