The statement of an eyewitness to the murder of Miguel Heredia pointed out to Juan Domingo Talerico as one of the gunmen who opened fire and mentioned “the Torres brothers” as other alleged perpetrators of the crime that occurred in the early morning of March 13, 2018 in the Justicia Social neighborhood better known as “La Favela” in La Plata.
Dana Ailén Córdobadaughter of John Paul “Papupa”, gave his version of the case in the framework of the jury trial that takes place at the headquarters of the La Plata Criminal Court. The young woman assured that that morning she saw Talerico open fire with a weapon and mentioned “the Torres brothers” as others who participated in the crime. In the dock of accused is Claudio Alexis Torres while brother lionel alias “Pitín” (with a prolific criminal record) is a fugitive.
This testimony may be of vital importance for the case since the other two witnesses who in the investigation pointed out the defendants changed their version during the debate, which earned them a complaint for false testimony by the accusatory block made up of the prosecutor. Silvina Langone and the lawyer Martin de Vargas on behalf of the Heredia family.
On this Wednesday he also declared Christian Javier Godoy who was detained for a year for this case, but was finally released. He claimed to be a “friend” of the defendant Juan Talerico. He maintained that he found out about the Heredia crime through “social networks” where they also mentioned his friend and Claudio Torres as those responsible for the death.
“I was detained for a year, I could not witness the birth of my daughter, I lost my job, I was left with psychological damage, there is a mafia behind all this,” he lamented. When asked by prosecutor Langone to provide details about “the mafia”, the witness did not hesitate: “Pablo (‘Papupa’) Córdoba, everyone is afraid of him and nobody speaks, there are several of them, everyone is afraid of him, no I know who they are (those who are with ‘Papupa’ Córdoba), but they are annoying people”.
The fact was investigated by the prosecutor Virginia bravo headline of the Functional Instruction Unit (UFI) 7 of La Plata. When requesting the elevation of the case to trial, it asserted that “on March 13, 2018, at approximately 03:00 a.m. on Calle 525 between 17 and 18 of La Plata, in the vicinity of Plaza Barrio Justicia Social, at least four male subjects -all of them armed- fired multiple shots with firearms in the direction of a group of people, including Miguel Heredia, Yhoana Andrea Carabajal, Dana Córdoba and Luana Córdoba, who had had previous problems with violence with his ex-partner -one of the aggressors-, hitting one of Miguel Heredia’s shots at humanity at the height of his head.
The prosecutor framed the fact as “aggravated homicide by the premeditation of two or more people” a crime that has life imprisonment as the only expectation sentence.
The oral trial was to take place in 2020 but was suspended due to preventive and mandatory social isolation (ASPO) due to the coronavirus pandemic. The defendants have been in pretrial detention for more than five years.
From early on, relatives of the victim and defendants arrived at the headquarters of the Criminal Court of La Plata (Calle 8 between 56 and 57) to follow the alternatives of the debate. Meanwhile, members of the Torres and Talerico families pasted photos with the caption “innocents.” They demand the freedom of the defendants and a new investigation of the case.
The technical judge of this jury trial is Carmen Palacios Arias of the Oral Criminal Court V of La Plata.
For there to be a conviction, the 12 jurors must vote unanimously for the guilt of the defendants, if the vote is divided and no matter how much the majority indicates that they are guilty, the defendants will go free.
