Nearly all the suspects in the brutal triple murder that shocked Argentina last month are now remanded in custody under pre-trial detention, though a few remain at large, the prosecutor leading the investigation said Thursday.
Prosecutor Adrián Arribas told reporters that nine people – representing “almost 100 percent” of the direct perpetrators – were being held in custody, though he declined to specify the charges they would face.
The detainees are under investigation for the brutal mutilation and killing of two young women and a teenage girl whose bodies were discovered on September 24, a case that triggered mass protests organised by feminist groups and human rights organisations.
Among those held is Tony Janzen Valverde Victoriano, alias ‘Pequeño J,’ a 20-year-old Peruvian national suspected of masterminding the crime.
Valverde was arrested in Peru earlier this month and is awaiting extradition to Argentina, a process which is expected to take several months.
Another suspect, Matías Ozorio, a 28-year-old Argentine believed to be Valverde’s lieutenant, was expelled from Peru last week after being captured while attempting to flee.
Two further suspects are the subject of international arrest warrants, added Arribas, the head of the La Matanza Prosecutor's Office.
The bodies of cousins Morena Verdi and Brenda del Castillo, both 20, along with 15-year-old Lara Gutiérrez, were found buried in a yard near a house in Florencio Varela, on the southern outskirts of Buenos Aires, five days after they were reported missing.
Officials in the Buenos Aires Province government said the victims were lured into a car under the pretext of attending a party. They were tortured before being murdered in a grotesque session broadcast live via social media to 45 members of a closed group – apparently as an act of internal discipline.
Prosecutors said the motive was an alleged theft of cocaine, a claim the victims’ families have denied.
“According to our line of investigation, it would amount to about three kilos,” Arribas said on Thursday, adding that further searches were planned.
A key statement made on Wednesday by one of the suspects who, according to her lawyer, was not present at the scene at the time of the crime.
The suspect “helped clarify somewhat the roles” of those under investigation, the prosecutor added.
Local media reported that the suspect was Celeste Magalí González Guerrero, the tenant of the property where the bodies were found.
Guerrero alleged in her testimony – seen by the Noticias Argentinas news agency – that the victims had stolen cocaine from a dealer called Lázaro Víctor Sotacuro.
She claimed that Sotacuro is “above” Valdeverde in the drug-trafficking network and killed the trio of victims
Sotacuro, according to police sources, presented himself as a taxi-driver but is allegedly one of the operation's leaders.
The detainee said she did not know of the plot to kill the young women in advance.
Guerrero confirmed that the victims thought that they were being brought to a party and that the murders were broadcast on the Zangui app.
A police report seen by Noticias Argentinas has discovered that Valverde entered Argentina on the afternoon of August 28 and travelled, along with two other people, via the Buquebus ferry from Uruguay.
"Three male individuals are seen walking on the pavement of Avenida Antártida Argentina, heading towards the entrance to the aforementioned car park, who will be identified as NN1, NN2 and NN3," details the report accessed by the Noticias Argentinas agency.
Investigators are now seeking to determine the identities of two individuals who were seen accompanying Valverde, to establish whether they were involved in the murders.
Police sources say the Buenos Aires Province Police have identified two additional suspects they want to question: Alex Roger Ydone Castillo and David Gustavo Morales Huamani, known as ‘El Loco David’ or ‘Tarta.’
Police are also searching for Manuel David Valverde Rodríguez, the uncle of ‘Pequeño J.’
– TIMES/AFP/NA
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