life imprisonment for the fourth police officer for kidnapping, abuse and murder

In a trial that took place 22 years after the murder of 15-year-old Natalia Melmann, Criminal Court No. 4 of Mar del Plata found Ricardo Panadero, a former Buenos Aires police sergeant, guilty for the crimes of kidnapping, sexual abuse and murder.

Judges Néstor Conti, Mariana Iriani and Juan Galarreta unanimously delivered the guilty verdict against Panadero. According to the court, the former sergeant is responsible for the crimes of “unlawful deprivation of liberty aggravated by the use of violence, sexual abuse aggravated by carnal access and by the participation of two or more people, and homicide aggravated by the participation of two or more people and criminis causa”.

After reading the judgmentthe immediate transfer of the convicted person to Unit 15 of Batán was ordered, Located in Mar del Plata.

It should be noted that in an earlier instance, tThree police officers, Oscar Echenique (63), Ricardo Anselmini (55) and Ricardo Suárez (60), had been sentenced to life imprisonment for their participation in the crime.

However, Baker was acquitted on two previous occasions due to lack of evidence. However, the provincial Court of Criminal Cassation decided to annul the ruling in 2019 and ordered that the fourth police officer from Buenos Aires be tried for his involvement in the case.

Natalia’s mother, Laura, was present during the reading of the sentence and expressed her pain to the media, stating: “They have no idea what it was like for us to lose a child. Nobody resuscitates my daughter”.

“Only when I put my head on the pillow do I see Natalia being attacked by four policemen”he added angrily. In addition, he remembered the joy and happiness of Natalia, who studied, played and danced, and regretted that her future was taken from her due to this terrible crime.

Also, he emphasized that Natalia is present with them in this difficult moment, accompanied by other victims. “They have no idea what it was like for us to lose a child. Nobody resuscitates my daughter”he concluded.