Woman kills husband who forced her into prostitution, stabbing him 185 times

A woman in Greater Buenos Aires, who alleges she was forced into prostitution by her husband, has been arrested on suspicion of murdering her spouse of more than 20 years, reportedly stabbing him 185 times as she killed him.

Paola Elvira Córdoba, 38, has been arrested on suspicion of murdering Alberto Naiaretti, 46, her husband and father of four children, local media reported.

The attack took place on Saturday night at a home on 18 de Octubre street, in the town of José C. Paz, in Greater Buenos Aires.

Both the accused and members of her immediate family accused Naiaretti, the owner of a warehouse and car wash, of previous acts of physical violence, threatening behaviour and of forcing Córdoba into prostitution against her will, with the alleged abuse reportedly spanning some 22 years.

"He forced her to prostitute herself. He would not let her sleep and told her that if she went to sleep everything was finished. That he was going to kill her," the accused woman's sister, María Córdoba, told local outlets in comments quoted by the AFP news agency.

"He mistreated the kids, [and] Paola, he was a bad person," she told reporters.

"She did not want to kill him, she did it to save herself," she added.

In the wake of the attack, police officers arrested Paola Córdoba and one of the couple's daughters, 18-year-old Milagros, said a source at the UFI investigative unit of Investigations of the Malvinas Argentinas district, some 20km to the north from Buenos Aires.

Paola Córdoba had previously reported him to the police several times for gender violence dating back to 2017, the source added.

The accused has confessed to the murder, officials said. Investigators are exploring whether Milagros, who was also repeatedly threatened and beaten by her father, was also involved in the killing. One working theory is that Paola Córdoba attacked her husband after he began assaulting Milagros.

According to an autopsy, 119 of the 185 stab wounds were concentrated on the chest area, with the rest located on other parts of the body. Four were considered to have been deadly stab wounds, with the rest superficial.

The couple had three other children, aged 13, nine and six, and had been living together for more than 20 years, police officers said.

The accusations were backed up neighbours, sources with knowledge of the investigation said this week. Some have told investigators that Naiaretti, who was known locally as "El Gitano", frequently beat Córdoba and forced her to act as a prostitute, reportedly seeking clients close to Ruta 8, a motorway that links Buenos Aires and cities in the Pampas.