The eleventh day of the trial for the crime of Maria Marta Garcia Belsunce in the Oral Criminal Court No. 4 of San Isidro began with the testimonies of Horacio Garcia Belsunse and two psychologist experts. The last to testify was María Laurasister of the victim. After little more than five hours, the hearing was about to be finished. But Nicolás Pachelo asked, through his defense, to expand his statement.
The main defendant for the crime referred to the statement made by Horacio García Belsunce, of which I had taken notes in a notebook. The witness spoke about the death of Pachelo’s father and stated that the ex-wife of the deceased had told him that it was not a suicide, also pointing to the defendant. Later He mentioned a meeting he had with the lawyer and journalist.
“The only meeting I had with Horacio García Belsunce was at the Sheraton de Pilar. I don’t remember if the autopsy had already been done or not. They called me and told me that Dr. Scelzi (José, deceased lawyer from Carrascosa) was meeting and that by way of off the record they wanted to talk to me to ask me some questions because they were making some comments in the country”, he began to remember.
And he continued: “There was a commissioner too, I don’t remember who he was. When I arrive, They were all with the battery out of the cell phone. They asked me to do the same, I asked what for and they told me that the phones were tapped. I had no problems, it did not seem like an out of place request.
“They asked me questions, what had I done on October 27 and from here comes the famous version of when I said that I was not in the country at the time of María Marta’s death”continued the story.
After that, Pachelo addressed the prosecution: “I remind you that for a long time the time of María Marta’s death was 7:00 p.m., not 6:30 p.m. And at 19 I was not in the country. Later This schedule was modified to favor Carrascosa: at 6:30 p.m. they put me in the country and took Carrascosa out of his house.
“It’s not that I told a lie. When they asked me, I said I wasn’t in country at 7 because he wasn’t really there. I did not lie. He wasn’t at that time. A lot of versions came out of that, that Pachelo lied… That’s the only memory I have of a meeting with Mr. García Belsunce,” he concluded his extension.
At that time, the deputy attorney general of San Isidro, Patrick Ferrari, asked him if he would answer questions from the prosecution. Pachelo replied: “I’m going to tell you something doctor, I’m going to start answering questions when you tell my defense 72 hours in advance the witnesses to be able to defend ourselves.”
“Are you going to answer questions? It is the third audience that declares, are you going to respond or not?, insisted the official of the Public Prosecutor’s Office. “Do not yell at me; you are fast but i am not slow. I have nothing more to say,” Pachelo released.
Judge Frederic Ecke, president of the court, intervened to establish: “It is clear that at that meeting you answered that at 7:00 p.m. you were not in the country.” “Yes, but off the record”, Pachelo responded. “Did you hear that five minutes ago someone said that he was seen leaving at 6:59 p.m.? At that time he was in the country, “said the magistrate. “Yes, but it’s not 7 pm,” replied the defendant. “It’s a minute…”, said the magistrate and ended the session.
Witness statements
The day began with the testimony of the the psychologist Patricia Ferreyra, who analyzed Pachelo almost 20 years ago in the framework of the Federal Capital criminal case for which in 2005 he was convicted of a series of robberies in the houses of friends and acquaintances, the same crime for which he is accused now, in addition to the murder in the Carmel country.
Regarding Pacheco’s general attitude, Ferreyra assured: “I remember that It was one of my first interventions as an expert witness. He reacted with some intimidating words towards the official expert, that he should have re-indicated the guidelines of the session. It was a transgressive attitude that he maintained throughout the evaluation. I don’t remember what she said, I remember the scene, for me it was very striking, “he said before the judges. The expert pointed her conclusions to a “psychopathic personality disorder.”
Then Horacio García Belsunce charged at Pachelo. He specified the facts that caused his suspicions from the beginning and even assured that the defendant’s lawyer told him that his client he was capable of lowering the charger after the confirmation of the homicide. He also sharply questioned the work of the original prosecutor in the case, Diego Molina Picowho pointed out how “the main accessory to the murder.”
Finally, María Laura García Belsunce assured that she suffered threats from Pachelo twice. One was on Callao avenue. According to his account, the accused confronted them and told them that he was going to kill them if they did not stop talking about him.
The other episode was in the Paseo Alcorta food court. “I was with my husband at a table, (Pachelo) approached us and threw a plate of food at us. He told me ‘this is to be sent to Carlitos (Carrascosa, who was in prison at the time), who must be starving to death’ ”, the woman remembered.
Due to this background, María Laura requested to testify without the presence of the accused, who had to leave the courtroom. In the words of the prosecution, the witness feels “panic” of Pachelo. The woman later claimed that “María Marta was also afraid of him.”
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