A man who confessed to hundreds of murders as the lead assassin for the drug kingpin Pablo Escobar has been freed from a maximum-security prison under heavy police guard. The assassin, John Jairo Velásquez, better known by the nickname Popeye, was paroled Tuesday evening despite protests from victims’ relatives. He had spent 22 years behind bars for plotting the murder of a presidential candidate, Luis Carlos Galan, during campaigning in 1989. Mr. Velásquez said he was considering relocating abroad because of the risk he might be killed, and he said he wanted to sell Hollywood the rights to the story of his life.