Second mobile phone and security camera footage implicate suspect in double femicide in Córdoba and Retiro
New evidence links 28-year-old Iván Tabella to the murder of two sex workers in Córdoba and Buenos Aires. A second telephone and camera records place him at both scenes.
Second mobile phone and cameras implicate suspect in double femicide in Córdoba and Retiro
A second mobile phone, a call to another sex worker, and security camera and mobile antenna records form part of the evidence collected against Iván Tabella, 28, detained as a suspect in the murder of Daniela Villalba (29) in Córdoba and Tatiana Fernández (27) in the Retiro neighbourhood of Buenos Aires. According to judicial sources who confirmed the information to infobae.com, the investigation has accumulated new elements that worsen his procedural situation.
The second telephone and the key call
The lead on the second mobile phone emerged when investigators visited the home of Tabella's parents in Córdoba to enquire about his whereabouts. The family members reported that the man was not there and provided an alternative number to contact him. When called, Tabella answered and replied: "I'm busy".
That number proved decisive. From the same telephone, a previous call had been made to a sex worker advertised on the Gemidos.com website. The woman, who at that time was with another client, referred the man to Tatiana Fernández. During that first conversation, the suspect introduced himself by name: "Hello, I'm Iván".
The coincidence between the number used to contact the first sex worker and the number provided by the detainee's parents allowed investigators to establish a direct link between Tabella and the meeting that Tatiana had agreed to before her death.
Mobile antennas and cameras place the suspect
The telephone registered a signal from a mobile antenna located approximately 200 metres from Tatiana's residence, minutes after the crime. This information was corroborated by security camera footage that captured the suspect passing a few metres from the entrance to the building where the victim was found, at Libertad No. 1200.
The images allow investigators to reconstruct his movements during the early morning hours of Sunday, 25 October, on the streets of Retiro. At 00.30 he was recorded at Santa Fe and Maipú. He continued via Suipacha, Arenales, Cerrito and Libertad in the direction of Tatiana's building. At 00.43, a camera captured him at Libertad and Arenales manipulating his telephone. At 1.59, private camera footage shows him leaving the building at Libertad No. 1200.
From there he walked towards Juncal. At 2.03 he was recorded at Cerrito and Juncal, heading towards Avenida 9 de Julio. Two minutes later, another camera captured him heading towards Suipacha. At 2.09 he reappeared at Santa Fe No. 700, crossing Plaza General San Martín, and one minute later was filmed running through the green space. The last record is at 2.11, when he crossed Reconquista and Avenida Leandro N. Alem. There the investigators lost his trail.
Hours later, at around 8 a.m. on Sunday, Tatiana was found dead in her apartment: she was lying face up on the bed, covered with a sheet. There were no signs of disorder, the door was locked and her mobile telephone was not present in the flat.
The Córdoba crime and flight to Buenos Aires
The investigation began in Córdoba, where Daniela Villalba was found murdered on Wednesday, 21 October, in her flat at Boulevard Las Heras No. 200, in the Cofico neighbourhood. The young woman had been strangled. Her body was on the bed, face up and covered with a sheet. Investigators determined that the perpetrator had cleaned the blood, tidied the flat and locked the door before leaving.
Security cameras recorded a man leaving the building with a suitcase. This luggage was discarded at the corner of Jujuy and Humberto Primo; rubbish collectors noted that it contained blood when they compressed it inside the truck.
Based on the tracking of camera footage, Córdoba police identified the suspect and reconstructed his movements. Before travelling, Tabella visited Córdoba's bus terminal and purchased two tickets using his national identity document. One was bound for Buenos Aires, where he arrived on Friday, 23 October. According to the investigation, the man had no connections in the capital; detectives are even considering the possibility that he slept on the street during his first hours in the city.
Hypotheses regarding motive and connection between cases
Investigators are analysing what motivated both attacks. One hypothesis suggests that Tabella sought to seize dollars, euros and jewellery from the victims. In that context, it is also being investigated whether the suspect had gambling-related problems.
The exchange of information between Córdoba police and Buenos Aires City police was decisive in linking the two cases. Whilst Buenos Aires detectives were investigating Tatiana's death, their Córdoba counterparts were already tracking Tabella's movements through his telephone's signal impacts on mobile antennas. The similar characteristics of both crimes—victims found face up, covered with a sheet, doors locked and absence of disorder—strengthened the hypothesis of a single perpetrator.
Telephone tracking subsequently located the suspect in the vicinity of Presidente Perón street at No. 1500, in the San Nicolás neighbourhood, where investigators found his whereabouts.
Source: Google News AR — Buenos Aires