A 39-year-old Uruguayan arrested for killing three people – including his former partner and her mother in a horrific double femicide – and of kidnapping his son has told the media that the murders were “all for justice.”
Pablo Rodríguez Laurta – who stands accused of killing the mother of his child, her mother and an Uber driver caught up in his murder spree – made the chilling remark as he was being transferred to Concordia in Entre Ríos Province on Wednesday for questioning.
Faced by a media scrum as police in Gualeguaychú processed him for transfer, Laurta – a vocal anti-feminist campaigner – told reporters: “It was all for justice,” a reference to the three killings.
"I wanted to rescue my son from a trafficking-ring," Laurta alleged as he was escorted by police officers.
Laurta, who was the subject of an Interpol international arrest warrant, is the main suspect as police investigated a break-in and shocking double murder last Saturday at the Córdoba home of his 24-year-old ex-partner Luna Giardina.
Investigators believe Laurta shot Giardina, 24, and her mother, Mariel Zamudio, before fleeing with his son Pedro (who turned six last week) .
Laurta has also been charged with the death of Uber driver Martín Sebastián Palacio, whose burnt-out car was discovered two days after the suspect hired him for a journey.
Parts of a dismembered corpse were discovered by police in Córdoba Province this week but the body has yet to be formally identified. Investigators said last Tuesday at a press conference that some limbs were missing and that the body was decapitated.
Sources close to the case told the agency that full DNA analysis could take up to five months but Entre Ríos Province Security Minister Néstor Roncaglia (a former Federal Police chief) said Tuesday that police are “99 percent” sure that the body belongs to Palacio.
The suspect was eventually detained last Sunday at a hotel in Concordia, Entre Ríos Province, by police officers.
Pedro was rescued safe and unharmed during the same operation. “The child is in good condition,” confirmed the Family Violence Prosecutor's Office in a statement.
An image later circulated online of the child, who has been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), hugging a police officer.
No comment
Laurta refused to provide testimony when questioned by prosecutors in Concordia on Wednesday over the suspected death of Palacio, for which he was formally indicted and remanded in custody for 120 days.
At press time, he was due to be transported to Córdoba to be questioned over the femicides of Giardina, his former partner, and Zamudio, her mother.
“We’re dealing with two femicides and one homicide,” confirmed investigators at a press conference on Wednesday.
Investigators managed to track down Laurta after discovering the burnt-out car on October 9. They said he had hired the driver to take him from Concordia to Rafaela, Santa Fe Province two nights before.
“A burnt-out Toyota Corolla was found in Córdoba, which raised our suspicions and prompted us to shift the investigation to that province,” said prosecutors.
“On Saturday, while we were still searching for Palacio, we learned that Laurta had murdered two women and abducted his son.”
Regarding the last known movements of the Uber driver, police said that his suspected killer refuelled in the city of San Salvador early on Wednesday morning and was alone – Palacio was no longer with him.
Investigators said Laurta’s “criminal plan” began in Uruguay. “He rented a cabin in Salto, where he practised kayaking to prepare for crossing into Argentina. He didn’t go through a controlled checkpoint but crossed the Uruguay River instead.”
Police believe that Laurta killed Palacio after he was picked up, dismembering his body.
“We believe Laurta has a methodical criminal mind. He controlled all the variables and did not act impulsively; he was fully aware of his actions,” said Roncaglia.
Regarding the child’s current situation, Roncaglia confirmed that the infant is in protective custody in Córdoba Province. “The boy’s mother has a sister in Chile but that decision will rest with the courts,” he told reporters.
Laurta was reportedly planning to flee across the border into Uruguay with his child.
In television and radio interviews on Tuesday, Laurta's mother Estela said she had made herself available to the courts to take care of her grandson if no guardian is available and she is deemed suitable by the authorities.
"I never imagined this could happen. I don't intend to speak to Pablo ever again," she told Radio Splendid AM990.
Fiercely anti-feminist
Rodríguez Laurta presented himself as a businessman and academic. However, his activity on social media was dominated by strong anti-feminist activism.
He was a co-founder of and regular contributor to the Varones Unidos (“Men United”) site, presenting himself as a victim of “feminist justice” and branding his former partner a “hypersexual psychopath” who had committed “parental abduction” and “child abuse.”
The website features information on gender violence trials, guides on how to "seduce" women on social media, criticism of high-profile abuse cases and promotional material for paternity testing services, among other articles.
An outspoken fan of US President Donald Trump, Laurta regularly commented on high-profile gender violence trials.
“The mere fact of being a man, or as feminists would say ‘macho,’ is sufficient proof of your guilt,” he wrote in one post, warning about the dangers of “false accusations.”
Laurta argued that gender violence legislation discriminates against men.
"Men no longer have the presumption of innocence; with just complaint, we are already being punished by the system," he once said in an interview. He also criticised the "LGBT lobby.”
Local media reports indicate that his relationship with Giardina was marked by violence.
Three years ago, the young woman had managed to escape from Montevideo to Córdoba with her son after telling police that her partner had attempted to strangle her.
As a result of that attack, the courts had given her a panic button. Tragically, it was not activated on the day of the murders.
She had expressed concerns on social media over her former partner and highlighted stories in which abusive men killed their ex-girlfriends and former wives.
An ongoing dispute over custody of their child was an obsession for the father. His most recent post on social media was an article entitled: ‘How the feminist justice system in Córdoba is keeping a child kidnapped in Argentina in a context of extortion and child exploitation.” It referred to his own situation.
Links to libertarian writers
Links to figures close to President Javier Milei’s government have also been brought to light. The suspect is known to two leading figures in the "cultural battle" promoted by Milei in Argentina since taking office in December, 2023.
Writers Agustín Laje and Nicolás Márquez, Milei’s official biographer,were in contact with Laurta in 2016, when the suspect helped to organise a promotional event for their books at the Uruguayan Legislature.
In a post on social media Tuesday, Laje denied any link to the suspect.
"In light of the horrific crime allegedly committed by a Uruguayan citizen named Pablo Laurta and inquiries I have received in this regard, I wish to clarify that I have no relationship whatsoever with this person," wrote the author.
Laje admitted that he had participated in an event in Montevideo in 2018 but said Rodríguez Laurta was just one of the people who invited him to attend. He described attempts to link them as "an act of bad faith that only seeks to tarnish my name."
He said the suspect should receive the maximum penalty and "rot in prison" if found guilty.
– TIMES/NA/PERFIL
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