The triple femicide of Morena Verri, Brenda del Castillo, and Lara Gutiérrez, three girls whose bodies were found in a haunted house in Florencio Varela, added a key chapter thousands of miles away. The investigation, which has kept the province of Buenos Aires and the entire country on edge, crossed the border and led to the arrest in Peru of two men accused of being central to the crime. The crime occurred just over a week ago and caused profound shock, a blow felt with unprecedented force on both sides of the River Plate.
The news was confirmed this Tuesday by Argentina's Minister of Security, Patricia Bullrich, who announced the capture of 28-year-old Matías Agustín Ozorio on social media. The young man, who had vanished after the incident, was located in Lima, the Peruvian capital, thanks to a coordinated operation that demonstrates how borders sometimes become permeable when the search for those responsible for a crime of this magnitude becomes a priority. International cooperation, in this case, worked like a precise mechanism to close the siege on the fugitives.
In her statement, the minister highlighted the collaborative work between the Peruvian National Police and the Interpol division of the Argentine Federal Police (PFA). Bullrich announced that the next step is to process Ozorio's extradition so he can be prosecuted in Argentina, where he is accused of being one of the direct participants in the triple femicide . For the families, who are living an endless nightmare, this capture represents a first step, a glimmer of light in the midst of absolute darkness.
Shortly after, a second announcement completed the day. Also in Lima, but in the Pucusana district, Tony Janzen Valverde Victoriano, a 20-year-old man known by the alias "Little J," was arrested. According to government sources cited by the newspaper La Nación , he is considered the mastermind behind the murder, the mastermind behind the macabre plan. "When you work with determination and coordination, criminals have nowhere to hide. Those who commit crimes pay for them," Bullrich stated when reporting on this second arrest, highlighting the effectiveness of the police collaboration that moved swiftly to prevent impunity from taking hold in this case.
A triple femicide that exposed the brutality in its entirety
With these two arrests, nine people have now been arrested in an investigation that is proving increasingly complex. The case shocked public opinion not only because of the victims' ages, who were between 15 and 20 years old, but also because of the cruelty displayed and the way the horror was portrayed. Morena, Brenda, and Lara had disappeared in La Matanza, a large and populated district in the Buenos Aires metropolitan area. Days later, their dismembered bodies were found in a house in Florencio Varela, about 40 kilometers away, in what investigators described as a gruesome scene.
What distinguishes this triple femicide and makes it even darker, if possible, is a detail that has come to light and chills the blood: the murder was reportedly broadcast live on social media . It is estimated that around 45 people may have witnessed the images in real time, a fact that adds a layer of digital perversity and exposes the degradation to which violence can lead. Who were those silent spectators? Why did no one raise the alarm? These are questions that resonate and that justice must also attempt to answer. This dimension of the crime speaks to a sick society, where life becomes a macabre spectacle to be consumed on a screen.
The news of the discovery of the bodies and the details that emerged generated a mixture of shock, rage, and indignation. In a country and region where the fight gender-based violence triple femicide became a tragic symbol of the urgency of finding answers and, above all, justice. The call is not only for punishment, but for prevention, so that no other girl's name is added to this endless list.
The echo of violence in the Río de la Plata
This crime is not an isolated incident, and that is perhaps the most devastating aspect. It is part of a painful string of sexist violence that resonates strongly in both Argentina and Uruguay . The shock generated by triple femicide is reminiscent of the massive "Not One Less" protests, a collective cry that originated in Argentina but found an immediate and powerful echo in the streets of Montevideo and other Uruguayan cities. Each new case rekindles the debate about the tools of the state, education, the warnings that go unheeded, and the failures of a system that doesn't always manage to protect women.
The context in which the events occurred, the Buenos Aires metropolitan area, is a territory of enormous social and economic contrasts, where the daily lives of millions of people unfold between neighborhood solidarity and exposure to complex dynamics of violence. For a reader on the other side of the pond, it's easy to draw parallels with the outskirts of our own cities, where vulnerabilities multiply, work is scarce, and the State often arrives late or insufficiently. This triple femicide exposes the fractures of a society where the lives of the youngest seem to have very little value.
The investigation remains open, and the arrests in Peru are expected to provide crucial information to fully clarify the perpetrators and the motive behind the crime. Was it a drug dispute? Revenge? An act of misogyny in its purest and most brutal form? All possibilities are on the table. Meanwhile, the extradition process will be crucial for the accused to face the Argentine courts and take their seats in the dock. The legal classification of triple femicide provides for the highest penalties in the criminal code, but no conviction can undo the damage caused. For the families of Morena, Brenda, and Lara, and for a society that closely follows every development, the capture of the fugitives is a necessary, albeit painful, step on a path that is still long and that demands not to forget. The memory of these three girls demands justice that matches the horror they experienced. The clarification of this triple femicide is a debt to them and to all those who are no longer with us.
