The false impalement and the scandalous judicial acquittal that fractured a country

Lucía Pérez: Acquitted, Then Convicted - The Femicide of Lucía Pérez in Mar del Plata

Three men arrive at a medical facility with a lifeless teenager. The justice system acquits them. Six years later, one receives a life sentence for the same case. How is it possible that the same death generates two contradictory sentences in Argentina?

In this episode, we explore the autopsy that dismantled the initial accusation, the scandal of the "impalement" announced without evidence, and how two courts reached opposing conclusions about consent, premeditation, and responsibility. A forensic investigation riddled with contradictions that exposed the prosecutor, removed judges, and fractured the country.

Victim: Lucía Pérez (16 years old)
Date: October 8, 2016
Location: Mar del Plata, Argentina
Status: Life sentence for Matías; 15 years total for Juan Pablo (second trial, 2023)

- Nasal swab positive for cocaine discredited the facial washing hypothesis announced by prosecutor Sánchez.
- Condoms with Matías's DNA found at home proved sexual presence, but not consent under intoxication.
- First court: acquittal for abuse and femicide. Second court: conviction for abuse. Same event, two verdicts.
- Judge Aldo Carnevale retired before facing impeachment; two judges were suspended for their handling of the case.

Lucía Pérez, Mar del Plata femicide 2016, sexual abuse, overdose, forensic, investigation, criminal minds, killer, Argentine justice, imperfect femicide, Spanish true crime

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