Police morgue in Moreno raided following two-body mix-up scandal
The General Audit of Internal Affairs raided the Scientific Police morgue in Moreno following a scandal exposed by Telenoche. A sergeant evisceration technician is the only person charged in connection with the identity mix-up.
Internal Affairs intervenes in police morgue in Moreno following cadaver mix-up scandal
Personnel from the General Audit of Internal Affairs of the Buenos Aires Province Ministry of Security raided on Thursday the morgue of the Scientific Police Delegation in Moreno-General Rodríguez, located in the Vicente López y Planes hospital. The measure was carried out as part of the criminal investigation into the identity mix-up of two men who died on 3 August in the municipality of Moreno, according to tn.com.ar.
From that police facility, the body of Adolfo Brizuela was delivered to a funeral home in Berazategui under the identity of Pedro Peñalver, a Falklands War veteran from the class of '62. The error—which had serious consequences for both families—was exposed by Telenoche's investigation titled "Two Deaths and Too Many Mistakes".
Single defendant and defence seeking to broaden investigation
The case is being handled by the Judicial Department of Moreno-General Rodríguez, under the charge of prosecutor Luisa Pontecorvo and assistant prosecutor Pablo Córdoba (UFI 3), under the oversight of judge Gabriel Alberto Castro (Guarantees Court No. 2). The current charge is alleged "omission or delay of official acts" and there is only one person charged: a sergeant evisceration technician at the morgue.
The top authorities of the facility attributed to that sergeant having "confessed" to the error. However, her lawyer, attorney Rodrigo Tripolone, argues that it is a directed investigation without evidence. In recent days, Tripolone requested the judicial investigators to carry out a series of measures aimed at broadening the scope of the investigation and protecting key documentation that remains in police hands.
The post-mortem procedure where the mix-up occurred
According to Telenoche's report, the cadaver exchange occurred at some point in the post-mortem procedure: between the bodies' admission to the morgue for autopsies and the subsequent delivery of one of them to a funeral home, already under Peñalver's identity. Days later, prosecutor Pontecorvo ordered the exhumation of the remains of who was actually Brizuela, but Brizuela's family received no notification. They learned what had happened from two Telenoche journalists.
Chain of errors and a detained family
The situation went beyond the mix-up at the morgue. The prosecution initially pursued the hypothesis of a homicide in Peñalver's death, based on an injury found on the body. That line of investigation led to searching for evidence and suspects, but—as a result of the identity mix-up—the investigation pointed to the wrong address: that of the Brizuela family. That family, which lives in a precarious dwelling, was subjected to interrogations involving beatings and deprivation of liberty at the 4th district of the Moreno Security Departmental Police of the Buenos Aires Provincial Police.
Those alleged police abuses began to be investigated after Telenoche reported the case. A new case was opened, being handled by UFI 7 of the same judicial department, under the charge of alleged "police brutality and abuse", official sources confirmed.
What was seized in Thursday's raid
The raid carried out on Thursday aimed to collect key materials requested by the defence and the prosecution. Internal Affairs removed from the morgue labels and seals used to identify cadavers; original and amended records; attendance books, duty logs and internal records of bodies' admission, storage and release. Communications between the morgue and the police stations involved were also to be seized.
The prosecution included an error in its request: it indicated the "8th precinct" of Moreno instead of the 4th district, which is the central facility in the story and where the Brizuelas were detained, accused of having "hanged" their own father.
The raided morgue is under the direction of Dr Roberto Espinosa, official sub-inspector of the Scientific Police. Among the outstanding procedures requested by Tripolone are expert analyses of telephone communications and WhatsApp messages from staff at the facility. The investigation into the Scientific Police continues to be handled by UFI 3.
Source: Google News AR — Buenos Aires