The arrest occurred after Police personnel from the departmental Investigation Brigade carry out a raid on a home located in the La Merced neighborhood of that town, according to police sources.
The fiscal Analia Cepedein statements to Diario Primer Informe, confirmed that the detainee is Gaston Marquez, alias “Chasco”, 38 years old, who was a neighbor of the victim. He had testified on several occasions before the Justice and they had carried out two raids on his house. The defendant was a partner of one of Patricia’s best friends.
Cepede, who took office two weeks ago in front of the Prosecutor’s Office, with all the data collected in the investigation led by Prosecutor Pochettino, ordered the arrest since he considers that there is a significant amount of evidence that points to him as the possible perpetrator of the crime.
Márquez is charged as the alleged perpetrator of the crimes of “Home violation, robbery, aggravated homicide due to gender condition (Femicide) and attempted arson in a real contest”. The defendant will be housed in the Cruz del Eje Prison.
Patricia’s femicide
Patricia Montenegro was a teacher at the San Martín school in San Francisco del Chañar and she was murdered in her home on October 6, 2022. The body was found after several hours of searching, it was in the patio, inside a cistern with water.
Investigators found the wallet and a small safe containing money and jewelry missing. This led the prosecution to work on the hypothesis of homicide during robbery.
Patricia’s partner, who arrived that day from Córdoba, reported the disappearance. She found the beginning of a fire in her room in the house and together with family, friends and the police searched for her throughout the town. After midnight, in the early hours of October 6, the body was discovered in the house.
His sister, Cecilia Montenegro, in statements to the press, after dozens of marches to demand justice, indicated: “This is a fight that continues, it does not end here, I still have a long way to go.”
In this context, he also expressed: “May God give the prosecutor a lot of wisdom, may God enlighten her and give her more wisdom so that we can fully reach the truth of all this.”
