Thursday April 27, 2023 | 2:29 p.m.
The second day of oral debate for the murder of David Anselmo “Napy” Ferreyra (20), in Criminal Court One of Oberá, featured relevant statements. Among them, that of the main defendant stands out, Pablo Daniel Espíndola (21), who confessed to having been the author of the fatal stabbing but led the act to an alleged act of defense for a previous attack. “I take charge, I hurt him but it was never with the intention of killing him. I hit him with a knife out of fright,” he admitted.
In his account of the events before the magistrates -Francisco Aguirre (president), José Pablo Rivero and Horacio Paniagua- the defendant as the author of the crime of simple homicide gave his version of the events that first occurred in the house of Laura Viviana Batista (24). and Alexandro Mario Becker (20) – accused of secondary participants – where they were celebrating Labor Day apparently with the victim; his wife, Karina Sandra Pio, Batista’s mother (Gladis Barboza) and brother (Lorenzo Isidro, alias exhaust pipe), as well as Darío Alejandro Pio, Napy’s brother-in-law and who in the case appears accused as a primary participant; and later on the street, when he -he said- he was walking towards his house in the company of Pio.
The first part of his story coincided with that of Batista and Becker, noting the presence of Napy Ferreyra armed with a knife in the house where they were celebrating, he said that there was a discussion with threats and struggles, which in this context persuaded him to leave. to hand over the knife but later hit the owner of the house in the face when he decided to stop the music and that Batista’s mother was attacked with a saw by Napy himself after asking him to leave the property.
Espíndola took the couple who own the property from the crime scene, saying that “Batista stayed to attend to Becker, who was bleeding, and to his mother, who had a cut on her head, and with Pio we took the road to go to my sister’s “. In that section, his version is different from that stated by most of the witnesses: “We were walking a few meters when suddenly Napy came out of the bush and hit Pio with a saw. I had the knife that belonged to him because Laura (Batista ) had given me to shoot when we were in the house and at that moment, out of fear I hit him with a knife but I did not see where I hit him. I was very scared because he is aggressive and said he was going to kill everyone”, he declared before the judges.
In that line he added “I realize that I hurt him but it was never with the intention of killing him, it was out of fright because he goes out and hits my partner with the saw, who starts to run but I stay there, then I cut him out of nowhere and I also run out with the knife, which I later hid in the garden of my house”.
In response to questions from his defense attorney, José Bridier, in relation to Napy Ferreyra’s conduct and way of life, the confessed murderer pointed out that “he was a fucked up, violent guy, he said he owned the neighborhood and was used to looking for a fight “, adding that” I was 19 years old, I felt very afraid because I had never been through that.
Espíndola also denied the witnesses who declared that the victim was attacked in a gang, in his home, without having the possibility of defending himself. “We didn’t go in gang to kill Napy as they say, it’s not true that Pio held him either. He attacked us on the way, so I reacted by sending the knife and then I ran away. I never went into Napy’s, I don’t know where he lives.” he insisted.
Pio’s version
Espíndola’s confession was in line with what his consort in the cause, Darío Alejandro Pío, declared moments before, proposing the hypothesis of the alleged initial attack by his brother-in-law Napy Ferreyra. “We were in a round taking it easy until Napy pulls out a dagger and begins to play against the wall saying that he owned the neighborhood, that he was going to kill someone or they were going to kill him, we asked him to calm down and Laura (Batista) did to hand over the dagger to keep. Later, Napy wanted to hit my nephew, I got in and he attacked me, he also grabbed Espíndola by the neck. We kept drinking anyway until Becker stopped the music, he received a pineapple in the face and at that Batista’s mother takes Napy out, who leaves but comes back throwing stones. With Espíndola we decided to retire.”
“On the way home, Napy comes out of the bush with a saw, attacks me and hurts my arm (he says he has a scar and shows it to the judges) so we run. The police stopped us the next day saying that we killed him,” he lamented. and along these lines he clarified: “But I did not see when they pushed him, he was not there, I did not hold him or grab him as they say”, accusing Napy’s sister, Julia Rodríguez, and the widow, Karina Sandra Pio, of “combining the statements”.
