Diego Maradona was “held like a hostage” and living in squalid conditions in the final weeks of his life, his former partner Verónica Ojeda told a court in San Isidro on Tuesday, delivering tearful testimony in the ongoing trial over the football legend’s death.
Ojeda, the mother of Maradona’s youngest son, said the World Cup winner was terrified and repeatedly begged her to take him away during visits in 2020, prior to his hospitalisation for brain surgery. “I knew he was being kept like a hostage – he was afraid of everything. Every time I left, he told me to take him with me,” she said.
The late star’s ex-partner was the latest witness to testify in the criminal trial of seven healthcare professionals – including doctors, nurses, a psychiatrist and a psychologist – who stand accused of homicide with possible malice aforethought, a legal concept meaning they were aware their actions could result in death. An eighth defendant, a female nurse, will be tried separately.
Maradona died on November 25, 2020 of pulmonary oedema caused by heart failure, while under home care following neurosurgery. He was 60.
Ojeda criticised members of the star’s entourage, naming assistants Maximiliano Pomargo and Vanesa Morla, and bodyguard Julio Coria, as individuals who contributed to his isolation. Coria has been accused of perjury during the trial, though none of the three face charges in the case.
She also accused Dr Luciano Luque and psychiatrist Agustina Cosachov – both defendants – of deceiving the family. “They lied to our faces – to all of us,” she said.
Breaking down during her testimony, Ojeda described the final time she saw Maradona, two days before his death. “There was a smell of urine and faeces where he was. That day I told him to bathe and shave, because it wasn’t right for him to be in that state.”
The court also heard a chat exchange between Cosachov and psychologist Carlos Díaz, in which Díaz disparaged the family’s concerns and referred to Ojeda in crude terms. “They speak from absolute ignorance,” he wrote, questioning “Who is she?” to comment on the patient’s treatment.
Ojeda responded through tears: “I am Dieguito Fernando’s mother, Carlos Díaz. I am the mother of Diego Maradona’s son – that’s who I am.” She called the comments “disgraceful.”
Earlier that day, Dr Mario Schiter – an intensive care physician who treated Maradona during his hospitalisation in Cuba in the early 2000s – also gave evidence. Schiter, who participated in the footballer’s autopsy at the family’s request, said Maradona’s death was the result of a “neglect of care” in the final week of his life.
He told the court that the Albiceleste legend was “a patient with latent heart failure who, due to a neglect of care regarding modifiable factors (habits or medication), developed heart failure,” which ultimately led to the fatal oedema.
Schiter said he had advised the family to transfer Maradona to a rehabilitation centre following his surgery. Taking him “from a high-complexity clinic to a private home, knowing the patient, seemed risky to me,” he explained, noting that Maradona did not always comply with treatment.
“If home care was the only option, I would have opted to equip the place as if it were a cardioprotected unit,” Schiter continued, listing items such as a defibrillator, electrocardiograph, laboratory testing equipment, oxygen, and non-invasive ventilation. Multiple witnesses have confirmed throughout the trial – which began on March 11 – that none of this equipment was present in the house where the former Albiceleste captain died.
The trial is being held in San Isidro, a northern suburb of Buenos Aires near the town of Tigre, where the footballer passed away. It is expected to continue at least until July, with dozens of witnesses scheduled to give evidence.
The next hearing is scheduled for Thursday, when doctors who treated Maradona prior to his hospitalisation are expected to testify, prosecutors announced.
The defendants face between eight and 25 years in prison if convicted.
– TIMES/AFP
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