Femicide in Almirante Brown: couple detained and charged, family still awaiting conviction
Adriana Vera, 34, was found dead in Rafael Calzada in 2016; her partner was charged with aggravated homicide but the case has not yet resulted in a conviction.
Ten years without conviction: the death of Adriana Vera and the unresolved case
Adriana Lorena Vera was 34 years old when she was found dead on 20 October 2016 in the home she shared with her partner in Rafael Calzada, a municipality in Buenos Aires province in Almirante Brown. According to eldiarionuevodia.com.ar, the case regained visibility in 2026 following a statement by Guillermo Anderson, Adriana's nephew, who contends that it was a femicide and questions the initial attempt to present her death as a suicide.
Adriana was born on 1 March 1982 in Caleta Olivia, Santa Cruz province. She studied in that city and later moved to La Plata, where she obtained a degree in Visual Communication. She worked in design and developed a t-shirt business called Pasaje Malaspina, named after a street in her neighbourhood of origin.
In October 2016 she was living in Rafael Calzada with Oscar Alejandro Cardozo, with whom she had been cohabiting for approximately one year. On Wednesday 19 October she had participated in the Ni Una Menos demonstration held in Buenos Aires.
The scene and the initial account
The following day she was found dead in the house located on Humberto Primo street, number 3700. The initial account that circulated was that she had taken her own life by hanging herself with a sheet.
Cardozo initially declared that he had had an argument with Adriana, that she had then gone out to work and that upon his return he had found her hanging. In statements to investigators, according to the earliest reports of the case, the man maintained this explanation.
However, the evidence collected in the dwelling and the results of forensic examinations began to call this sequence into question. The investigation was reoriented towards the possibility that the scene had been staged to make a homicide appear to be a suicide.
Forensic findings and contradictions
One of the central elements was the result of the forensic examination. Information released in October 2016 indicated that Adriana had died from mechanical compression of the neck inflicted by a third party, a mechanism that investigators considered incompatible with the initial explanation of suicide.
Inconsistencies in Cardozo's account were also noted. According to the information published at the time, when the first police officers arrived, the body was already on the floor and the man stated that he himself had taken it down.
The initial reconstruction also incorporated a detail provided by the family: Adriana had allegedly communicated with a close friend before her death and told him that she was in danger. That person had allegedly called the emergency service and subsequently contacted the victim's relatives.
The relatives also reported a history of violence within the couple. These allegations formed part of the context surrounding the demand for justice, although to establish their legal scope it would be necessary to consult the proceedings incorporated into the case file.
In the earliest coverage it was mentioned that Adriana had a mental health diagnosis and was receiving pharmaceutical treatment. This history does not demonstrate that she took her own life nor does it alone explain the circumstances of her death.
The charge and the state of proceedings
On the basis of the initial evidence gathered, prosecutor Fabiola Juanatey, from the Functional Unit of Investigation No. 2 of the Judicial Department of Lomas de Zamora, became involved in the investigation. Cardozo was detained and charged with the homicide of his partner, with the aggravating factor linked to the relationship and context of gender-based violence.
On 25 October 2016 it was reported that the accused remained in detention whilst the prosecution resolved his procedural situation. In his statement, according to reports from those days, he reiterated the version that he had found Adriana dead upon returning to the dwelling.
The initial charge does not equate to a conviction. The detention and suspicions gathered during the investigation constitute stages of criminal proceedings, but do not by themselves allow for determining the definitive responsibility of the accused.
The demand from Caleta Olivia and current uncertainties
At that time, Adriana's relatives travelled from Caleta Olivia to Buenos Aires to look into the case. In her home city, relatives, friends and neighbours held a public gathering to demand justice and ask for the investigation to advance.
The available information allows for reconstructing the initial stage of the proceedings, but not its entire subsequent evolution. In October 2016, Cardozo was detained and charged; however, no public judicial ruling could be found thereafter that would allow confirmation of whether the case was sent to trial, whether an oral hearing took place or whether there were decisions concerning the procedural situation of the accused.
The information published in October 2026 maintains that the case file remains under investigation and that there is no conviction. However, that publication does not identify the court or the prosecution that currently has the case, does not provide the case number nor does it attach a recent ruling that would allow those data to be corroborated. Nor could it be confirmed documentarily whether Cardozo remained in detention throughout this period, whether he was released or whether other procedural measures were issued.
Source: Google News AR — Buenos Aires