Thursday, January 19, 2023 | 9:37 a.m.
This Wednesday, January 18, on the third anniversary of the crime of Fernando Báez Sosa, the hearings of testimonial statements in the trial to clarify the fact before the Court No. 1 of Dolores, presided over by Judge Claudia Castro, concluded. A hundred forensic experts, investigators of the case, relatives and relatives of each of the parties passed through these twelve days. Also, declared the majority of the defendants. Videos, chats and audios were exhibited that served to reconstruct the previous and subsequent movements of the 8 defendants that morning in Villa Gesell.
Prosecutors Juan Dávila and Gustavo García consider that the evidence is numerous and highly incriminating. The statements of the defendants were not enough to dispute the accusation of doubly aggravated homicide by predetermination and treachery, which entails a life sentence. The complaint, led by Fernando Burlando and integrated by Fabián Améndola, thinks the same.
Now, after the statements, the arguments are awaited and then move on to the reading of the verdict. The complaint and the prosecution will allege on January 25, the defense, in charge of Hugo Tomei and Emilia Pertossi, the next day. Here, the theories of each party on the case will be exposed, and each one will request the resolution that they believe corresponds. Burlando, for his part, repeatedly announced that he will request that the eight defendants be sentenced to life imprisonment, with a minimum of 35 years in prison before the chance of parole.
On Tuesday the 31st of this month, according to judicial sources confirmed to this medium, the verdict will be read.
Yesterday Lucas Pertossi spoke, one of the defendants most complicated by the evidence that includes witness statements and messages revealed in the expert reports. Pertossi is the rugby player who said that Báez Sosa “expired” after the brutal beating outside the Le Brique bowling alley.
Pertossi recalled details of the day the murder took place; He insisted on drinking alcohol before going to the dance venue, he said how was the moment when the security personnel took them out of the place; and he specified how he got involved in the beating: “I see that they grab a friend by the foot and want to throw him to the ground, I approach him and say ‘let him go.’ I kick him twice, I go back, I see that the boy tries to stop and I go back, I go to the corner”.
At that time, Pertossi explained why he used the word “expired” in reference to Fernando. “I was disoriented, I lose my friends and start texting and calling a friend. I call, he tells me that he was in the market, I go and approach him. There a kid tells me that there was a fight outside Le Brique, that they had called an ambulance and that the kid had expired. Afterwards we went to McDonald’s because he was hungry”.
“I want to say that I am very bad for what happened at that time, I was undergoing psychological and psychiatric treatment and medication. I think we were all very affected by this. I want to clarify that at no time did I hit Fernando Báez Sosa, at no time did I participate in a murder plan, I went on vacation ”, he concluded.
After Pertossi, it was the turn of the statement of Blas Cinalli, who denied the charges against him and, like Lucas, also did not acknowledge having participated in the premeditation of a homicide. His statements point to a previous fight, consistent with the classification of murder in a fight that the defense could introduce into the allegations.
“From the skills that I could see… It was said that Fernando Báez Sosa had my DNA on his little finger. I never touched it. I didn’t know who he was. I guess the person inside the bowling alley (with whom she got into a fight) was him,” Cinalli said. He also assured that he reacted when he saw a “fight” between the defendant and his friends, which could be interpreted as an attempt to introduce the figure of homicide in a fight, with a sentence considerably less than that of life imprisonment, barely six years maximum. . Like all of his colleagues, he refused to rat out or point fingers at others.
Cinalli is also the author of messages that were revealed from the seized phones. “They took all the patovicas out of us, we beat it up badly,” he told an interlocutor. “They grabbed us by the neck, the police took us out, but we still won,” he added.
Javier Pablo Laborde, the investigating secretary of the case, who analyzed the defendants’ cell phones, told during the trial about a group called “El club del Azote”, made up of 13 people from Zárate, among whom was the defendant, who at 5.08 of that January 18, 2020, he referred to the following: “We fought, we won against some cheetos, we broke them. We are going to the center to reward”.
Fernando Burlando asked Cinalli to ask questions, but he refused. In this way, the stage of receiving testimonies concluded.
