Tears, horror and scandal – a look back at how first Maradona death trial collapsed

Floods of tears from his daughters, images of the filthy room where he lay in agony before his death and the implausible episode of a secret documentary starring one of the case’s judges – the first trial over the death of Diego Maradona, annulled in May 2025, produced searing, moving and at times surreal scenes.

Maradona, arguably Argentina’s most famous son and its national football icon, died aged 60 on November 25, 2020, from a cardiorespiratory crisis after hours of agony in his bed at a private residence in Tigre, north of Buenos Aires, where he was recovering from neurosurgery.

As a second trial into his death gets underway, here’s a look at the most notable moments from the first annulled trial, which was voided amid judicial scandal.

Horrific scenes

During the first trial, relatives, doctors and witnesses described the deplorable state of the otherwise upmarket private residence where Maradona’s unsuccessful recovery unfolded.

“The house was very dirty, very untidy – especially the room. There was no order or even basic cleanliness for someone who had just undergone surgery,” said Colin Campbell, a neighbouring doctor who went to assist shortly before the ambulance arrived.

“Where Diego was, it smelt of urine and faeces. That’s why that day I told him to wash and shave,” testified Verónica Ojeda, one of the star’s former partner and mother of one of Maradona’s children, through tears in court as she recalled the last time she saw him, two days before his death.

Witnesses also highlighted how the residence was unsuitable for home hospitalisation.

“I didn’t see any medical equipment in the room. I didn’t see IV drips, which I believe should be present in home care,” said Lucas Farías, a deputy commissioner with Buenos Aires Province police force.

Juan Carlos Pinto, another doctor who arrived with the first ambulance, confirmed there was “nothing [at the home] that could assist resuscitation” – neither oxygen nor a defibrillator.

In short, it was “a theatre of horror,” prosecutor Patricio Ferrari argued.

Tears

From the very first day of the trial, Maradona’s eldest daughters, Dalma and Gianinna, struggled to contain their emotions. 

They covered their faces as prosecutor Ferrari displayed one shocking image: a photograph showing the legendary footballer dead in his bed, his abdomen grotesquely swollen. 

“This is how Maradona died!” the prosecutor exclaimed, arguing it was impossible for doctors not to have realised something was wrong.

Emotion filled the courtroom on other occasions too, including when Gianinna – during nearly seven hours of testimony repeatedly interrupted by emotional breakdowns – said she had not been properly informed about her father’s health by the medical team in the dock.

The home hospitalisation “was staged – a piece of theatre they put on so they could continue with what they so badly wanted, which was to keep my dad in a dark, ugly and lonely place,” she claimed.

Her sister Dalma added that she regretted trusting the doctors who assured them home care would be enough. “We were deceived in the cruellest way,” she said.

Scandalous documentary

After two-and-a-half months of hearings and more than 20 sessions, the revelation that Julieta Makintach, one of the three judges, was starring in a secretly filmed documentary miniseries about the case triggered a scandal with global repercussions.

At the hearing in which Makintach was removed, prosecutors screened a trailer of the amateur documentary, which was seized during raids following a prior complaint. It combined interviews with the judge, showed footage of her in court and featured archive material about Maradona’s death.

It was to be titled Justicia Divina – ‘Divine Justice’ – and was to run to six 30-minute episodes.

Proceedings were annulled in May 2025 for this reason and Makintach was later removed from office in impeachment proceedings last November.

“Neither my sister nor I could believe it,” Dalma said in an interview with Urbana Play radio last month.