Judge extends pre-trial detention for Jonathan Lucero over homicide in Villa San Patricio, Chimbas
Judge Guillermo Adarvez extended by three months the pre-trial detention of Jonathan Lucero, the sole defendant in the crime in Villa San Patricio. The prosecution alleges necessity of further evidence and flight risk.
Lucero to remain in detention for three more months over the Villa San Patricio killing
Judge of Guarantees Guillermo Adarvez ruled on Wednesday to extend the pre-trial detention of Jonathan Lucero, the sole defendant charged with the shooting homicide committed in Villa San Patricio, Chimbas. The ruling, according to tiempodesanjuan.com, granted the request of the Public Prosecutor's Office (MPF), which sought a three-month extension of both the detention and the Preparatory Criminal Investigation (IPP).
Prosecutor Roberto Ginsberg—standing in for Sebastián Gómez—and assistant prosecutor Agostina Pérez based the request on the need to gather and analyse new evidence linked to the crime. The extension of the IPP will run from 24 October, the date the case was originally formalised, whilst pre-trial detention is extended from this 21 October.
Search of girlfriend's home: mobile phone and letters seized
On the same Wednesday, investigators conducted a new search of Lucero's girlfriend's residence in search of the murder weapon. The pistol was not found, but officers seized a mobile telephone and several handwritten letters written by the defendant and addressed to his partner. The material will be submitted to handwriting analysis to determine whether its contents provide relevant information about the attack.
Flight to Mendoza, the other argument of the prosecution
The MPF also invoked flight risk as grounds for keeping Lucero in custody. Ginsberg and Pérez recalled that, following the crime, the suspect used his partner's vehicle to escape to Mendoza province before voluntarily handing himself in at the Courts. That precedent was presented as an indicator that the defendant could evade the judicial process again.
According to the progress of the case, the homicide was allegedly motivated by a suspected vendetta linked to the theft of drugs and a motorbike. Two child witnesses gave statements in the Gesell Chamber and placed Lucero directly at the crime scene, which worsened his procedural situation.
The defence rejected the extension and questioned the search
Defence lawyer María Filomena Noriega categorically opposed the extension of the precautionary measures. Noriega characterised the MPF's arguments about flight risk as mere hypothesis, noting that such claims were based exclusively on the trip to Mendoza. Furthermore, the lawyer questioned the procedure at the girlfriend's home, as she had not been notified of the search either before or after it took place.
Despite these objections, Judge Adarvez concluded that there were no changes in the investigation that would benefit Lucero. The defendant's procedural situation thus remains unchanged, with pre-trial detention in force for an additional 90 days and the IPP extended for the same period.
Source: Google News PR — San Juan