Argentine man accused of model Agostina Jalabert's femicide deported from USA
Juan Manuel Reverter, the sole defendant in the femicide of Argentine model Agostina Jalabert in Mexico, arrived detained at Ezeiza after being deported from the United States.
Reverter arrives at Ezeiza after more than three years as fugitive
Juan Manuel Reverter, aged 38 and sole defendant in the femicide of Argentine model Agostina Jalabert, landed on Saturday at Ezeiza International Airport, deported from the United States. According to tn.com.ar, the man was detained at the disposal of the federal courts after disembarking from an Aerolíneas Argentinas flight from Miami.
The transfer was escorted by officers of the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) service. The aircraft arrived at around 10 a.m., and once on the ground, members of the Argentine Federal Police (PFA) and Airport Security Police (PSA) carried out the detention.
Deportation rather than extradition to Mexico
The deportation was carried out to Argentina—Reverter's country of origin—rather than a direct extradition to Mexico, where the criminal proceedings are based. The matter initially fell under the jurisdiction of the federal courts of Lomas de Zamora, which has authority over Ezeiza. The process must now advance for the defendant to be sent to Quintana Roo, the Mexican district that is requesting his presence before the courts.
Reverter had been detained on 23 July in the state of Oregon during a joint operation between the United States Marshals Service, Interpol Washington, Homeland Security Investigations and Border Patrol. A warrant for his arrest was outstanding against him and an Interpol red notice had been issued. His passport was expired at the time of his apprehension, after he had remained a fugitive for more than three years.
The crime and the shift in investigation
Agostina Jalabert was 31 years old and originally from Carmen de Patagones. On 18 February 2023 she was found dead in the bathroom of the apartment she shared with her sister Candela in Playa del Carmen. Her body was suspended with a belt tied to a towel rail, at a low height from the floor. Reverter, who was also at the location, claimed to have been asleep.
The Mexican courts opened the investigation as a possible suicide. However, the injuries found on the body and inconsistencies at the scene raised suspicions among the victim's family, who from the start maintained that she had been murdered.
The autopsy and forensic examinations proved decisive. The report by forensic pathologist José Micieli described injuries consistent with punch blows, head trauma, cigarette burns and signs of sexual abuse. On the basis of these findings, the case was reclassified as femicide and placed in the hands of a specialised prosecutor's office in Quintana Roo.
The prosecution's theory and the family's demands
The Mexican prosecution contends that Reverter struck and strangled Jalabert and then attempted to stage a suicide to conceal the crime. The defendant must answer to the courts of that country, which is formally requesting his extradition.
Agostina's family, headed by her father Edgardo Jalabert, maintained throughout this time a public call for justice and questioned the actions of the initial authorities who intervened in the case.
Source: Google News AR — Crime