The Mercedes Justice sentenced life imprisonment to the two men who were tried for the crime of the former rugby player and president of the Vicente López Municipality Club, Marcelo Longhi, occurred in January 2022. The ruling was issued by the Oral Criminal Court (TOC) 2 of that judicial department and fell on Pablo Javier Achard, who was the victim’s best friend, and Ramón Flores, the landlord of the house. where the crime was committed.
Judges Juan Miguel Tillet, Pablo Vieiro and Juan Manuel Renaud Mass maintained in their unanimous ruling that Longhi’s crime was committed with treachery. Today, when the guilty verdict was read, the defendants were not present in the courtroom. The victim’s family and friends were there.
“Sad, but at peace. We owed it to Marcelo“said Fabián Longhi, the victim’s brother, after hearing the sentence. And he added: “It gave me relief not to have to see their faces anymore.” [a los asesinos]. It is very difficult to be indifferent and coexist [dentro de la sala de audiencias] with these people who hurt us so much.”
Achard, a friend and partner of the victim, went from being a key witness to being convicted of the murder. Longhi was killed in a field in the La Verde area, in the town of Tomás Jofré.
“With all the evidence offered, the criminal responsibility of both defendants in the crime has been demonstrated,” prosecutor Guillermo Lennard had stated in his argument before the judges. Finally, The sentence was in accordance with the prosecutor’s requirements.
The crime
Longhi’s body, murdered on January 12, 2022, had been found on the side of Route 47, 8.5 kilometers from Luján, in the bed of the 4×4 truck that he usually used. From the beginning, judicial and police investigators suspected that the place where the body was found had not been the scene of the homicide.
The crime scene was the Los Amigos Cabin, in the La Verde area, in the town of Tomás Jofré, in the Mercedes district, where the victim and Achard, owner of a security company in Vicente López, had a livestock business. Flores was the landlord of the field. Both suspects had been prosecuted with preventive detention for the crime of “simple homicide.”
When he was not yet under suspicion and testified as a witness, Longhi’s partner tried to divert the investigation. He said that the last time he had seen his friend was when he gave her 140,000 pesos to complete the purchase of three bulls in the Navarro district.
However, after analyzing the information that could be recovered from the victim’s computer and cell phone, it was determined that at no time did he have negotiations to buy steers or third parties with breeders in the Navarro area, according to the judicial file.
In his argument, lawyer Alejandro Broitman, representative of the victim’s family, had maintained that the accused “They abused Achard’s bond and trust to deceive him and ambush him with the aim of killing Longhi”. The lawyer also requested the sentence of life imprisonment.
Achard’s defense was led by lawyers Diego Storto and Elizabeth Lires, who maintained that they did not share the accusation or the assessment of the evidence of the Public Prosecutor’s Office and the injured individual and requested the acquittal of the partner and friend of the victim, according to judicial sources reported.
Flores’ defenders, Marcelo Constantino and Carolina Caliva Hara, also requested the acquittal of their assistant.
However, as the investigation progressed, the landlord was accused of false testimony, and it was discovered that he maintained a link with Longhi’s partner and friend, whom he went to visit in prison where he was serving house arrest. After a series of contradictions, his arrest was ordered.
Today, Both were sentenced to life imprisonment.
