2023-04-17 22:05:52
If the judge accepts the request for the release of suspect Francisco Sáenz Valiente, it will be a sign that the version of Emmily Gomes’ death by suicide under the influence of hallucinogens prevails over the version of the prosecution, of femicide to cover up an attempt at sexual abuse. RFI interviewed defense and prosecution lawyers and had access to details of the process that investigates the death of the Brazilian woman who fell from the sixth floor of a residential building on March 30.
Márcio Resende, RFI correspondent in Buenos Aires
“I did everything possible to prevent Emmily from jumping out the window,” said businessman Francisco Sáenz Valiente, 52, in a condolence letter written to the victim’s family, his first public words since the incident, when she fell into the inner gap. of a luxurious building in Recoleta, a prime area of Buenos Aires.
Since then, the businessman has been imprisoned in a police station in the neighborhood of Barracas. On April 5, he wrote a letter to the family of 26-year-old Brazilian model Emmily Rodrigues Santos Gomes.
“Dear Parents,
I am very sorry about your daughter’s accident.
I did everything possible to keep her from jumping out the window.
It was a tragedy and I called 911 twice to ask the police for help.
I used all my strength to save her.
From prison, I send you enormous condolences.
I hope my innocence is clarified.
Francisco Saenz Valiente
“As Francisco Sáenz Valiente does not know the family, the letter was attached to the file. My client and his family are in very bad shape. Just like Emily’s family. This is a tragedy for two families. For this reason, Sáenz Valiente wrote a letter in which he talks about the regrettable situation in which he was unable, after trying three or four times, to contain Emmily”, he explains to RFI lawyer Rafael Cúneo Libarona, a reference in criminal law in Argentina.
body found naked
Witnesses allege that the victim would have taken off her own clothes, due to the hyperthermia caused by drug consumption.
“The circumstances for Emmily to end up naked in the hall are quite confusing. It is, at the very least, eye-catching. We consider that the defense’s version is a mere attempt to improve their procedural situation”, refutes Ignacio Trimarco, Emmily’s family lawyer, in an interview with RFI.
“Witnesses say that at no time was there sex. The autopsy says there was no semen. Everyone was dressed. It was a meeting of friends, but a meeting where they consumed cocaine and other drugs”, says Cúneo Libarona.
The prosecution’s lawyer, Ignacio Trimarco, adds to the RFI that two used condoms were found, but the defense attorney denies this information.
“Inside the apartment, two used condoms were found, whose genetic material will now be analyzed to rule out that this circumstance of Emmily’s death is not related to sexual abuse”, indicates Trimarco.
psychotic break
A RFI asked Cúneo Libarona how a person who measures only 1.57m and weighs 60Kg could not be contained in his supposed suicide attempt by two people, businessman Francisco Sáenza Valiente and the other Brazilian woman present at the time of death, doctor Juliana Magalhães Mourão , 37.
It was Juliana who introduced Emmily to Francisco that same day. Juliana’s name appears as a member of the board of directors at Sáenz Valiente’s company, dedicated to agribusiness and mining.
The testimonies of the witnesses point in the same direction: Emmily had a psychotic break, after mixing alcohol, marijuana, cocaine and pink cocaine, a synthetic drug with a hallucinogenic effect, and became uncontrollable.
The witnesses are the Cuban Dafne Santana, the Argentine Lía Alves, in addition to the Brazilian Juliana Mourão, who at first told the Police that she did not know the victim.
“The circumstances surrounding Juliana are, to say the least, contradictory. She is supposedly a friend who took Emmily to this businessman’s house, but when her friend, according to her account, had an accident and fell into the gap, she did not help, being a doctor. The police found her in the hall of the building, when Juliana was trying to flee the scene”, reports Ignacio Trimarco.
A RFI tried to contact Juliana Mourão, who did not respond to the interview request.
distress call
In the two calls by Francisco Sáenz Valiente to the emergency number, minutes before Emmily fell, the businessman asks the police to come to the apartment because Emmily would be “altered” as if she were “possessed”. In the background of the calls, Emmily can be heard screaming for help from the police.
“A person in a psychotic break does not ask the police for help”, assures Emmily’s family lawyer.
Before supposedly jumping through the window of the businessman’s room that faces the building’s inner span, Emmily would have tried to jump through the front of the building, having been seen by a neighbor of the building in front. This neighbor describes seeing Emmily call for help and then being pulled inside by a man.
A RFI he also questioned why the businessman is in prison, while the other Brazilian, the doctor Juliana Mourão, is considered only a witness, if he could also have participated in the eventual homicide.
“The reason why Francisco is in prison and the other witness, Juliana, is free, when the two people were in the same place, at the same time, with the same participation, I think it is due to the fact that the judge or the prosecutor understands that Francisco was the owner of the drug. But here in Argentina, personal consumption is not a crime”, emphasizes Cúneo Libarona.
Weapon possession, drug supply and femicide
Justice extended the charge against the businessman, also indicted for illegal possession of a weapon, drug supply and homicide aggravated by femicide, a crime with life sentence.
Lawyer Rafael Cúneo Libarona should ask for his client’s release this Monday (17) and estimates that the judge will comply with the request, releasing the suspect on Wednesday (19).
Whether or not Judge Martín Del Viso complies with the request will indicate how much Francisco Sáenz Valiente is or is not committed to the evidence.
#Businessman #suspected #killing #Brazilian #Argentina #freed