Two inmates planned murder of prosecutor via WhatsApp from prison
Two prisoners coordinated from separate Buenos Aires prisons a plan to kill prosecutor María Paula Hertrig. Three mobile phones containing intelligence on the victim were seized.
Criminal plan organised from two Buenos Aires prisons
Two inmates held in separate prisons in Buenos Aires Province organised, via WhatsApp, the murder of prosecutor María Paula Hertrig, head of the Functional Unit of Investigation (UFI) in Boulogne, according to canal13sanjuan.com.
The suspects were identified as Martín Darío Rettori, 42, and Ariel Ernesto Libertini, 47. Rettori was serving a sentence at Penitentiary Unit No. 31 in Florencio Varela, in its maximum security sector, while Libertini was in Prison Unit No. 21 in Campana.
Despite being held in separate and distant facilities, both managed to obtain mobile phones with the WhatsApp application active. At the request of the general prosecutor of San Isidro, Patricio Ferrari, investigators reconstructed the exchange of messages and calls through which the inmates planned their strategy to attack the official who had intervened in the cases that resulted in their convictions.
The most alarming discovery of the investigation was the intelligence material in the inmates' possession: they knew Hertrig's routines and usual movements, and had photographs of the prosecutor, her partner and her family. This led investigators to believe that the inmates had logistical support from accomplices outside the penitentiary units.
Search and raid operations were carried out simultaneously at both prisons. During the procedures, three mobile phones were seized, which will be subject to technological analysis to determine the scope of the network, identify possible new participants and establish whether the plan reached a stage of concrete execution.
The case remains open under strict judicial secrecy.
Source: Google News PR — San Juan