Triple crime

Triple crime
Native name Triple crimen
Date August 13, 2008 (2008-08-13)
Location General Rodríguez, Argentina
Type Murder
Organised by "La Morsa" (identity unknown)
Deaths Sebastián Forza
Damián Ferrón
Leopoldo Bina
Suspect(s) Aníbal Fernández
Esteban Pérez Corradi
José Luis Salerno
Convicted Cristian Lanatta
Martín Lanatta
Víctor Schilacci
Marcelo Schilacci

The Triple crime (Spanish: Triple crimen) took place in General Rodríguez, Argentina, on August 13, 2008.

The event

Three pharmaceutical businessmen, Sebastián Forza, Damián Ferrón and Leopoldo Bina, had been reported missing on August 7, 2008. They met at a supermarket in Sarandí, Buenos Aires. They were found dead in General Rodríguez the following August 13. They had been shot and partially buried, and had evidence of recent torture.[1]

Forza's widow said that the deaths were a mafia message for other people. She said that her husband had paid $250,000 for protection to a man known as "La Morsa" (Spanish: the walrus). This is the pseudonym of a man who could not be identified. She claimed that she heard that it was a man with a moustache.[1] She suspected that it may be Esteban Pérez Corradi, a creditor of Forza, because her late husband feared him.[2]

The investigations in the following days revealed that the three men had ties with narcotrafficking cartels. The drugstore of José Luis Salerno, a former associate of Ferrón, was closed. Forza and Ferrón had a lab in Ingeniero Maschwitz to manufacture illegal drugs.[1]

The import of ephedrine was restricted a month later, limiting it only to the labs that prepare legal drugs that contain it.[3] It was also discovered that Forza financed the political campaign of Cristina Fernández de Kirchner during the 2007 general elections.[1]

Cristian Lanatta, Martín Lanatta, Víctor Schilacci and Marcelo Schilacci were detained and sentenced for the killings. Esteban Pérez Corradi is still at large.[1]

Journalist Jorge Lanata (unrelated to Cristian and Martín) interviewed Salerno and Martín Lanatta in 2015. They claimed that Aníbal Fernández (minister of Justice at the time) was "La Morsa", the mastermind of the crime. They claimed that Fernández ordered the killing of Forza, Ferrón and Bina because they may have attempted to secure the illegal drug trade operation for themselves.[1] The house of Jorge Lanata was attacked with stones two days later, and several .38 caliber bullet casings were found after the attack.[4]

Escape

Cristian Lanatta, Martín Lanatta and Víctor Schilacci escaped from the prison on December 27, 2015. They used a guard as hostage, and used the car of an employee of the prison. Three helicopters and 600 cops were deployed to locate them. The governor María Eugenia Vidal fired the leaders of the jailing system of the Buenos Aires province, suspected in helping with the escape. The fugitives were reported to be seen in the San Juan Province, which could not be confirmed. They were found at Ranchos, near Chascomús, and fired to the police. It was also denounced that they had visited relatives in Quilmes. There was a second fire and escape from the police in San Carlos, Santa Fe province. They attacked a rancher and escaped in his truck, but the truck crashed in the road to the north. Martín Lanatta escaped on his own, and was captured shortly afterwards. It was announced that the three fugitives had been captured, but it was later rectified. The other two fugitives were captured a few days later.[5]

Further events

Esteban Pérez Corradi was detained in Paraguay in February. The case was transferred to judge María Servini de Cubría.[6]

References

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