After almost two years of waiting, The jury trial that will determine whether Pablo Parra is guilty of the femicide of Agustina Fernández began in Cipolletti. There will be 11 days and it is expected to end on May 15. The hearing began with the instructions that the judge, Guillermo Baquero Lazcano, gave to the popular jury. In the courtroom is Agustina Fernández’s family. Her parents were the first to testify. The Prosecutor’s Office presented its theory about the case under four keys: “obsession, rejection, treasonous attack and hiding.” For its part, the defense assured that “Pablo Parra is not a murderer.”
From eight o’clock the trial for the femicide of Agustina Fernández takes place in the hearing room of the Judiciary of Cipolletti. The young woman had arrived in the city with the dream of becoming a doctor in March 2022. On July 2 she was brutally attacked inside Parra’s apartment. First it was said that it was a robbery, then the investigation took an expected turn and Parra was charged.
The opening arguments were given by the technical judge of the process, Guillermo Baquero Lazcano, who indicated to the popular jury what their role will be during this trial: listen, debate and determine if Pablo Parra is guilty of the femicide of Agustina Fernández.
Then, the hearing continued with the prosecution’s theory, presented by prosecutor Martín Pezzetta. There it was highlighted that they worked under four keys: “obsession, rejection, betrayal attack and hiding.”
After reviewing the fact, The Prosecutor’s Office assured that “it was Parra who installed the theory of the robbery, “But the investigators will provide objective evidence that was found at the scene to prove the opposite.”
For its part, the complaint asserted that AGustina did not want to get involved with Pablo Parra. In addition, he provided details about the attack that the young woman suffered in the accused’s apartment.
The defense began its arguments with the question: «Is Pablo Parra a murderer? « and they assured that the answer is “in Agustina’s hands.” Also, they highlighted Parra’s predisposition towards the investigation. «We are not saying that she was not attacked, We say that it was not Parra who attacked her«, they stated.
In the last accusation control, they were admitted 39 common witnesses for the prosecution, complaint and defense, 49 exclusive witnesses for the prosecution and the complaint and 27 for the defense.
During the process, documentary evidence of the raids and telephone interventions carried out during the investigation, photographs and police reports and also reports from the Telecommunications Investigation Office of the Attorney General’s Office and the Forensic Computer Office of the Superior Court of Justice (STJ) will be exhibited. ).
Trial for the femicide of Agustina Fernández: “I never believed Pablo Parra,” said the mother
After the opening statements by the complaint, the prosecution and the defense, Agustina Fernández’s mother was the first witness to be called to testify. He spoke about the young woman’s arrival to the city to study medicine, her bond with Parra and her life in Cipolletti.
Silvana Cappello, mother of Agustina Fernández, was the first witness to testify before the popular jury in the hearing room in Cipolletti. “In February we came to look for an apartment, he loved the studio apartment, we chose it because it was the safest,” he said about his place of residence.
In addition, he assured that he maintained daily contact with the young woman in the first days after her arrival in the city. “At first she was afraid but she was happy with her independence,” Silvana said.
Regarding Agustina’s arrival at Cipolletti, she explained that they had chosen the city because of the way to enter the faculty; other possibilities were Buenos Aires and La Plata. Regarding the choice of the department, it was mainly due to the security it presented.
On one of the family visits to Agustina Fernández, in the month of June, Silvana reported that they went out to dinner at a bar in Cipolletti. There they met a young man who works at the place, Natanael, who according to Agustina’s mother had a connection with the young woman. «I noticed when she greeted him that she was blushing. That didn’t happen with Pablo Parra.
The young woman’s mother reported that it was Parra who contacted her minutes after the attack. «They called me from a number with characteristics from Neuquén, it was Parra. He told me ‘I came out, they saw me leave, they hit Agustina.’ “This was from the neighbor’s phone, I didn’t believe her,” she said.
After this communication, the person who reported Agustina’s health status to the family became the person in charge of the department. «I didn’t talk to Parra again, I didn’t want to. When I saw Agustina it was terrible, I only recognized her nose. The father took care of the donation procedures, I didn’t want them to touch her anymore,” Silvana said.
Trial for the femicide of Agustina Fernández: the story of the person in charge
Natalia González was called to testify as a witness on the first day of the trial. She was in charge of the apartment complex where Pablo Parra and Agustina Fernández lived. On the day of the brutal attack on the student, Natalia was the one who accompanied them from minute zero.
«When they arrived in Cipolletti I did not rent to students, but I saw them with so much fear that I said yes. Furthermore, she (Agustina) was a sensible girl. He saw the studio apartment and told the mother that he liked it and it was enough for him, that changed my perspective on the situation. I was worried about the trip to the university but I knew that if something happened I could come right away,” he said.
Regarding the dynamics of coexistence between the apartment’s tenants, he stated that “since there was no consortium, I controlled the situation. It was not a building with 15 apartments with 15 real estate agencies, I chose who entered the apartments. Among them, there was also a cohabitation contract and a WhatsApp group to let me know what happened,” he said.
When asked about the bond they shared Agustina Fernández and Pablo Parra said that the accused used to say that the young woman “was his friend.” and he had seen her several times in Parra’s apartment.
On the day of the incident, Natalia was in Neuquén with her husband when she received a call from one of the tenants. In that communication she tells him “Agustina is beaten, there is a lot of blood, it seems to me that they broke in to steal.” and she asks me for Silvana’s phone number so that Pablo can call her. Immediately, Natalia contacted Agustina’s mother and told her “Don’t worry, I’ll take care of your baby.”
Natalia remained with the student until her family arrived from Santa Rosa. «From minute one I was sending witnesses to talk to the prosecution. “We all thought it was something more, it was not a simple robbery,” he said.
A few weeks after the incident, Parra told him he wanted to stop renting the apartment. «He wanted to go quickly. We had asked for an orderly delivery but it was not like that. At some point there was a kind of defensive attitude and he told me ‘I am not accused.’ We had to go to lawyers with letters to document to be able to order delivery,” he explained.
Femicide of Agustina Fernández: the prosecution’s theory
According to prosecution theory, The accused Pablo Parra, on July 2, left the apartment where he lived with the intention of attacking the young woman. He had everything planned to commit the femicide, he even made sure that the young woman was in his apartment, a space of his knowledge and control.
To make sure, he invited her to dinner the same day the crime occurred; He waited for her outside the complex and told her to go to her apartment. He left her alone, and minutes later she returned, entering through the back door and attacked Agustina. Not satisfied, with the young woman already on his feet, he continued hitting her.
Once the crime has been committed, Parra left the place, messed up a section of the room to simulate a robbery, and He took his cell phone and Agustina’s. Also, he took the young woman’s keys.
He left the apartment through the same place he entered and went to his vehicle. To support his alibi, she went shopping at an ice cream parlor and a grocery store, made the payments with her card and returned to his apartment. When he found the young woman lying on the ground, he feigned surprise and went to his neighbor’s apartment to call the police stating that he had been robbed and that Agustina had been injured.
Last Friday the selection of the popular jury that will judge Pablo Parra was carried out. Men were more introverted and reticent to give their opinions. Women, on the other hand, expressed their feelings more, talked about emotions and their personal problems.