Saturday April 22, 2023 | 5:00 a.m.
In the context of the investigations into the death of gendarme Jésica Galeano, who was found dead and shot in the head on March 12 at her home located in the Cocomarola Este neighborhood, in recent days they were summoned to lend statement of three ex-partners -one of them personnel from the Gendarmerie- of Horacio Balbuena (35), the only one arrested for the alleged femicide.
In their statements, according to sources with access to the file consulted by this morning paper, they all agreed that he was violent, since he mistreated and physically assaulted them.
One of the women even stressed that she had received death threats on several occasions, for which she made multiple complaints.
It was detailed that before the Investigating Court Seven of Posadas all of them stated that they lived with him, during which time the gendarme Balbuena showed his violent side.
From the complaint, they detailed that two of the ex-concubines of the alleged femicide made more than one complaint, for having suffered gender violence. In this regard, one of them made two presentations and another three.
In total, Balbuena has seven complaints against him, filed by four different women. Most of the accusations were made in Gobernador Roca and San Ignacio.
One of the ex-partners told Judge Miguel Mattos that Balbuena wanted to kill her with a knife on one occasion. But that was not all, since he added that on another occasion he threatened her with death, warning that he would throw her into the river.
Balbuena also, according to judicial sources, had conflicts of violence in the security force itself, in which at the time of the event he was on leave.
new evidence
On the other hand, the lawyer for the Galeano family, Ricardo Guanuco, mentioned to this medium that the investigation will continue through the analysis of the different elements that were found at Jésica’s home during the raid on April 5, which was taken to carried out precisely with the aim of trying to reconstruct the last moments of life of the 31-year-old woman.
There are no results of analysis of the items searched at the home.
Among the evidence, members of the Misiones Police seized clothing that contained blood. They also took a sample of the blood that was found on the floor of the house, something that could serve to further contradict what Balbuena said, who from the outset stated that it had been a suicide.
This hypothesis had already been ruled out due to the negative result of the paraffin applied to the victim’s body, although more complex studies are expected.
Other results are also expected that have to do with the expertise of cell phones and calligraphic expertise. The latter, in relation to the alleged farewell letter that was found inside the home.
For these works, the defense presented a request for a private expert to intervene. This request was accepted by magistrate Mattos, so the specialist will analyze all the evidence available so far, including the expertise of the car where Galeano was found dead.
Handwashing
On the other hand, the plaintiff lawyer recalled that they are still waiting for the results of a test called RAF, which, like paraffin, is used to find firearm residue, but with a more specific result.
This, because he alleged that the paraffin test carried out on Balbuena could have given a false negative.
It should be remembered that the atomic absorption of the defendant was carried out several hours later.
Another of the factors for which they suspect that the man did not have gunpowder on his hands, they suggest that it is because he washed his hands. Regarding the latter, the same police commission would have affirmed that they allowed him to enter the bathroom of his house, at which time he was able to try to erase the traces.
In figures
7It is the total number of complaints against the alleged femicide for gender violence. The accusations were made by 4 ex-concubines.
Life sentence for the defendant
“Now there is a family destroyed by a person who is worth absolutely nothing. He was always violent and abusive. He has to stay in jail, ”said one of Jésica’s friends, during the demonstration they held to request a life sentence for the accused, on April 14 in the vicinity of the intervening court.
Regarding Jésica’s relationship with Balbuena, he contributed that “after she went to live with him, she stopped having a social relationship with those she knew because this person did not allow her to.” Remembering that “if she wanted to go out on the sidewalk to have a drink, it was a problem. The same if we wanted to go out. I have seen her sad many times for fighting with him.
When asked about how the suspect appeared in public, the interviewee confessed that she never knew “what he was like in his personal life”, noting that “he did not let himself be known either”, because he isolated himself, and together with him “he isolated her ”, he remarked.
