In a trial that keeps the entire country on edge, prosecutor Marcela Dimundo and the victim’s family lawyers requested this Thursday the penalty of life imprisonment for the three defendants accused of murdering and dismembering businessman and trader Fernando Pérez Algaba. The crime occurred in July 2023 in a field in General Rodríguez, and the victim’s body was dismembered and abandoned in a suitcase in a stream in Lomas de Zamora.
“They killed Fernando for money. And that is what has been proven here,” said prosecutor Dimundo before the popular jury, composed of 12 citizens, who must decide whether Maximiliano Pilepich, 47; Matías Gil, 31; and Nahuel Sebastián Vargas, 46, are guilty of homicide. The prosecutor detailed that on July 18, 2023, after 10 p.m., at the Renacer property, the three defendants, along with other individuals, planned to “get rid of” Pérez Algaba. “I have not proven whether it was Pilepich or Vargas who pulled the trigger, whether it was one, the other, or both together with their finger on the trigger. But both were there, before, during, and stayed together afterward, and that shows there was an agreement of wills,” she added.
Then, lawyers Javier Baños and Sebastián Quejeiro, representatives of Rodolfo Pérez Algaba, the victim’s brother, also requested the maximum sentence. Baños described the crime as “horrendous and committed in a treacherous, deceitful, and sure manner.” Addressing the jurors, he warned: “You are judges of the facts and judges of the evidence. In a jury trial to achieve a life sentence, all twelve jury members must vote affirmatively. If even one of you doubts, it is very possible that these three murderers will walk free to their homes.”
The lawyer emphasized that the three defendants “killed Fernando from behind, treacherously, and with certainty.” According to the accusation, Pérez Algaba was murdered in a field in General Rodríguez, where he had gone to collect a debt owed to him by Pilepich. He was shot twice, and then his body was dismembered and scattered in a stream in Lomas de Zamora. Part of the corpse was found inside a suitcase.
Today, the debate before the Oral Criminal Court No. 9 of Lomas de Zamora will continue with the arguments of the defense lawyers. Then, the jurors will receive instructions to deliberate and deliver their verdict. A conviction requires unanimity among the twelve members. The community awaits justice for a crime that shook Argentina.
Para mí esto es una farsa. Clavan perpetua a estos tres pobres monos, pero los verdaderos monstruos, los que manejan el capital, siguen libres. Me parece que el sistema solo castiga a los de abajo. ¡Perpetua para ellos sí, pero también para los dueños del poder! Firme: El Che de la esquina.
para mi estos forros se van a morir de viejos en cana o los sueltan antes q se pudran hay q fusilarlos no mantenerlos justicia berreta siempre los mismos vamos a tener q tomar justicia x mano propia fdo el cacique