The trial into the alleged murder of 28-year-old Cecilia Strzyzowski in Chaco Province could be reached as early as this Friday, according to a lawyer representing the family of the victim.
Strzyzowski disappeared in the northern province in June 2023 and is presumed to have been killed.
Her remains have yet to be found, though bone fragments have been found.
She was last seen entering the family home of her former partner. CCTV cameras recorded her entry, but she never came out, and that was the last time she was seen alive.
A jury trial began Tuesday, (October 28), in the provincial capital of Resistencia, where seven defendants – including members of the influential ‘Clan Sena’ family – are being tried before a jury.
The defendants include Cecilia's former partner César Sena, charged with double aggravated homicide (by the relationship and by gender), and his parents Emerenciano Sena and Marcela Acuña, indicted as primary participants in the same crime.
Speaking to the Noticias Argentinas news agency, a lawyer representing Cecilia's mother said that, given the jury trial is set to end on November 20, a conclusion could be reached earlier.
“I think on Friday we’ll have a ruling," said Gustavo Briend, who is representing Gloria Romero, the victim's mother.
Monday’s hearing included the testimony of Francisco Rodolfo Ríos, the owner of a tract located in Campo Rossi Sur, adjacent to a property owned by the Sena family.
He said the accused and Gustavo Melgarejo, another defendant, had drank beer and shared an asado on June 2, the day Cecilia went missing.
Although the body of the young woman has not been found yet, investigators believe Cecilia was murdered inside the family dwelling, with her remains later being moved to the family’s pigsty, where her body was burned and her remains were later scattered across different areas of the local neighbourhood.
Her body was burned at extreme heat for several hours at the pigsty, as confirmed by Anahí Ginarte, forensic expert of the Córdoba Judiciary, who testified recently at the trial by jury.
Briend confirmed that testimony to Noticias Argentinas, adding that the forensic anthropologist further showed the jury and the court that they had found vertebrae, ribs, a skull, phalanges, a tibia, a femur, a clavicle, a kneecap, a fibula and teeth, all belonging to a woman.
Regarding the extreme temperature used, Ginarte explained that the remains found “showed signs of calcination, but not charring,” which is why it was difficult to find any DNA.
Prison attack
Last Sunday, Marcela Acuña assaulted five penitentiary officers and was isolated in a cell at the women’s prison where she is being detained, according to local media.
The victims of Acuña’s were first-class corporal Luciana Romero (slight linear erythema of the right elbow), first-class corporal Viviana Beatriz Pawizki (blow to the left knee), first-class corporal Camila Martínez (excoriation on the left forearm), officer Gavilán Soto (haematoma in the left leg) and officer Lucía Benítez (linear erythema of the right forearm).
– TIMES/PERFIL/NA
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