Life sentence for Buenos Aires police officer convicted of triple homicide in Chascomús
Francisco Reddy, aged 22, was sentenced to life imprisonment for murdering his father, stepmother and stepbrother in December 2023.
Dolores Court sentences police officer Reddy to life imprisonment for murdering three family members
The Oral Criminal Court No. 1 of Dolores handed down a life sentence against Francisco Waldemar Reddy, aged 22, a Buenos Aires police officer accused of the triple homicide that occurred on 29 December 2023 at a rural property in Chascomús. According to apropol.com.ar, the judges Christian Ariel Rabaia, María Claudia Castro and Juan Paulo Gardinetti found his criminal responsibility proven in the deaths of his father, his stepmother and his 11-year-old stepbrother.
The sentence does not allow for the possibility of conditional release, meaning the actual expectation of imprisonment could reach 40 years in prison.
The victims and the sentencing qualifications
The court established different qualifications according to each victim. For the murder of Diego Reddy, aged 44, the accused was convicted of aggravated homicide due to family relationship. For the death of María Eugenia Suárez, aged 47, the conviction was for homicide aggravated by treachery. For the murder of Ignacio Reddy, aged 11, the qualification was simple homicide.
Reddy followed the reading of the verdict virtually from Batán penal institution.
The reconstruction of the crime
The investigation established that on 29 December 2023, between 6 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., Reddy first killed María Eugenia Suárez whilst she was cooking, with a gunshot to the back from a short distance.
He then headed to a shed where the boy Ignacio was, who received a gunshot to the abdomen and subsequently severe blows to the head. The property manager found him dying and transferred him to San Vicente de Paul Hospital in Chascomús, where he died.
The body of Diego Reddy was found two days later, on 31 December, among grassland approximately 200 metres from the residence. It presented a defensive wound on an arm and two gunshot impacts: one in the chest and another at the back of the neck.
Economic movements prior to the crime
Prosecutor Juan Manuel Dávila argued during the trial that the crimes were motivated by family and economic conflicts. The official defence, led by Diego Marcelo González, had requested acquittal.
The investigation reconstructed a series of operations carried out by Reddy in the days beforehand. One day before the triple homicide, he allegedly sold, without his father's knowledge, 20 Aberdeen Angus cattle in an informal transaction for approximately 3,400,000 pesos. The following day he completed the purchase of a 2008 model Chevrolet S10 through a swap that included a Suzuki Fun and five cattle that were never delivered.
According to the prosecution, these transactions deepened the economic conflict within the family.
The false alibi
After the murders, Reddy attempted to establish the version that his father had been the victim of an extortion kidnapping. He claimed to have received a phone call in which he was demanded seven million pesos for his release, but investigators determined that this communication never took place.
He also asked a fellow Buenos Aires police officer to have a female officer call him pretending to be a man to demand money from him, in an attempt to reinforce the version. The manoeuvre was ruled out by the investigators.
The evidence that supported the conviction
Security camera footage recorded Reddy's van at different times during the day of the crime. Subsequently, investigators found the .22 calibre rifle used in the attacks in the rear seat of the vehicle. A gunshot residue test also detected powder residue on his hands and arms.
The investigation also established that Reddy had requested the weapon from an uncle on the grounds that he needed it to "hunt wild pigs" on a property on the Coast.
The sum of the forensic, testimonial and documentary elements led the court to impose the maximum penalty provided for under Argentine legislation.
Source: Google News AR — Buenos Aires