Barrelier charged with aggravated femicide of Agostina Vega in Córdoba
Claudio Barrelier, the main suspect in the femicide of Agostina Vega, refused to testify before the prosecutor and was formally charged with triply qualified homicide.
Aggravated charges against Barrelier for the femicide of Agostina Vega
According to sanjuan8.com, Claudio Gabriel Barrelier, identified as the main suspect in the femicide of Agostina Vega, was questioned on Tuesday by prosecutor Raúl Garzón at the Córdoba Courts. The accused denied the facts attributed to him, exercised his right to refrain from testifying and was formally charged with triply qualified homicide, an offence that carries a life sentence.
The hearing lasted more than an hour and a half and focused on procedural matters related to the new legal classification. At the end of the hearing, his defence lawyer, Jorge Cassini, confirmed the outcome: "Barrelier was questioned, he denied the facts attributed to him and refrained from continuing to testify."
The accusation was reformulated to classify the case as femicide: Barrelier faces charges of qualified homicide due to criminal purpose, sexual abuse and gender-based violence. The aggravation of the charges is supported by evidence gathered by the prosecutor's office over recent weeks.
According to the investigative theory, Vega was deceived, sexually abused and strangled in a residence located on Juan del Campillo Street at number 800, in the Cofico neighbourhood of Córdoba. Subsequently, according to investigators, Barrelier is believed to have obtained a black Ford Ka motor vehicle to transport the body and abandon it in a wasteland in the Ampliación Ferreyra neighbourhood. Sources linked to the case indicated that the evidence gathered so far seriously implicates the accused.
After the questioning, Barrelier was transferred to Bouwer prison, where he remains held under constant monitoring by the Córdoba Prison Service. Cassini declined to outline the defence strategy and referred the next steps to measures the prosecutor's office may order: "That is part of the prosecutor's investigation."
The case also involves two other detainees. Osvaldo Fassetta, who resided in the property linked to the main accused, and Soledad Andreani, close to Barrelier, will be questioned in the coming days and face charges of aggravated accessory to crime in a context of gender-based violence. Investigators do not rule out that the procedural situation of both could change as new evidence is added to the case file.
The prosecutor's office continues to work on reconstructing the facts to establish with precision the mechanics of the crime and the degree of involvement of each of those involved.
Source: Google News PR — San Juan