Global Courant
It had been requested by the businessman of the night Darío Holzweissig, imprisoned for the femicide of the 44-year-old woman in Curuzú Cuatiá, Corrientes.
The attorney general of Corrientes, César Sotelo, rejected the possibility that the crime of journalist Griselda Blanco (44) be closed with an abbreviated trial for the crime of simple homicide, as the defendant’s defense had requested last week.
Sotelo ordered prosecutor María José Barrero Sahagún to deepen the investigation and conclude the process of producing evidence that is still pending.
“In view of the particularities, seriousness and social significance of the case under investigation, I consider that it is necessary to respectfully make a series of legal clarifications to the parties that are intervening in the process. What matters here, according to the position assumed by this Attorney General’s Office, is that the complaint and/or victims have had the possibility of being heard and that their opinion is taken into account,” argued Sotelo.
Journalist Griselda Blanco (44), murdered in Curuzú Cuatiá, Corrientes.
As the victim’s children had spoken out against the abbreviated trial and asked that night businessman Darío Alfredo Ricardo Holzweissig (46) be charged with femicide, the attorney general asked “to continue with the investigation of the case, and it should be analyzed according to the extremes and edges that it presents, in order to arrive at a solution, adjusted to law, after incorporating all the results of the evidentiary measures ordered”.
Until now, Holzweissig has been charged with the crime of simple homicide, which provides for a sentence of between 8 and 25 years in prison, despite the fact that he had a clandestine relationship with the victim, as could be established during the investigation.
Rejecting the possibility of an abbreviated trial, the complainants indicated that “significant material is still pending production that could clarify the fact and that leads to a fair trial, such as DNA tests and expert reports carried out on the raided and kidnapped elements.” .
But they also recalled that the prosecution hearing for Holzweissig by prosecutor Barrero Sahagún “was based on proving the relationship between the victim and the perpetrator.”
Sotelo highlighted in his ruling that “in all those cases that are extremely serious, such as this one, the complaint and even the victim(s) who are not part of the complainant, must be informed of the attempts to reach a trial agreement.” between the Prosecutor’s Office and the accused, they must understand the terms and scope of the same, they must give their agreement prior to the request for an approval hearing before the judge and that all this must be duly recorded in the minutes and/or recorded”.
And, in addition, he recalled the need for “the need to build an open and fluid channel between the Public Prosecutor’s Office and the victim, who must be given the consideration and treatment that their dignity demands.”
The cell phone they found in a vacant lot was the same as that of the journalist Griselda Blanco (44), murdered in Curuzú Cuatiá, Corrientes.
The crime
Griselda Blanco was assassinated at dawn on May 20 at her home in the downtown area of Curuzú Cuatiá. The woman had a noose around her neck and two puncture wounds to her neck, but the autopsy determined that her death was by strangulation. In addition, several hairs were found in one of her hands that she tore from the murderer.
At first, Armando Jara, his ex-partner, was arrested as the main suspect, but the Federal Police Homicide agents advanced on other possible perpetrators. Holzweissig was placed on the radar by Blanco’s children, who were aware of the stormy relationship.
The businessman of the night was raided twice and his cell phone was seized. By then he had already deleted the history of conversations with the victim.
Security cameras were key to locating the now detainee near the victim’s home.
The images made it possible to establish that he left his house at 2:11 in the morning on Saturday, May 20, aboard his wife’s Suzuki Swift. He used a longer path to get to the vicinity of the journalist’s house. At 2:37 he was seen walking very close to Griselda’s house. And that he left at 3:12 with a phone in his hand and the same bag he had arrived with.
The journalist Griselda Blanco (44), with her sons Lautaro and Fabián Cesani.
The man arrived at his house again -on Route 126- at 3:35 a.m. and ten minutes later he is seen walking towards the open field where a knife and a broken cell phone were found on Friday morning, identical to the one that disappeared from the house of the journalist. At 4:02 a.m., he headed back toward the vacant lot off Route 126.
On June 1, Holzweissig’s lawyer requested a full abbreviated trial, for which the defendant must acknowledge that he committed the crime and accept the evidence included in the file.
As the amount of the penalty was below the half established for the crime of simple homicide, the consent of the attorney general had to be obtained, who this Tuesday ruled against the agreement.
EMJ
