In front of the popular jury, Silvana Etchever returned in time. She recalled that dramatic early morning that she lived on Christmas 2021, in a field located in the Pedregoso area, regarding 35 kilometers from Villa La Angostura. She flinched once more at the report of the gunshot. And she ran once more, desperate and bloodied, up a hill in search of a cell phone signal.to ask for help because her husband, Julio Raúl Zani, who had been fatally wounded following being shot.
On Monday, Etchever testified before the members of the popular jury that is trying José González Aguilar, who is charged with the murder of the brothers Julio Raúl and Alejandro Zani. Also, ddeclared Margarita del Carmen Juan, Alejandro’s widow. The two women relived the drama they suffered.
It was the first day of jury trial that takes place at the Villa La Angostura Convention Center. The trial is directed by Judge Federico Sommer. “The first day was very distressing. Remembering what I experienced was very sad for me,” Etchever explained to BLACK RIVER.
He said Tuesday was worse. It was the day where the ballistic and forensic experts who examined the bodies of the victims testified. Also, the doctors who assisted them. Etchever said that they invited her to leave the room because her experts would show her autopsy photos, but she did not want to. “It was my decision to stay,” she clarified.
This Wednesday, the witnesses provided by the defendant’s private defenders testified, who is assisted by the lawyers Facundo Trova and Laura Plaza. The defense tries to argue that González Aguilar acted in self-defense. It is not the accusers’ theory.
At the opening of the trial, Chief Prosecutor Fernando Fuentes, together with the prosecutor who investigated the case, Adrián De Lillo, told the jury that they would demonstrate “that the defendant is responsible for the two homicides.” The same theory was put forward by the lawyer Cristian Hugo Pettorosso, who is the legal representative of the two widows and of Mónica Zani, sister of the victims who are plaintiffs in the case.
Etchever commented on the anguish he lives. “There are hours of uncertainty to know what will happen tomorrow, what the jury will decide,” he said.
This Friday will be the allegations of the prosecution, the complaint and the defense. Later, the popular juries will deliberate to give their verdict if the defendant is guilty or innocent of the double homicide attributed.
a dramatic morning
Etchever said that he was able to tell the jury what he experienced that early morning of December 25, 2021, when her husband was murdered and her brother-in-law was fatally wounded, who died two days later at the San Martín de los Andes hospital.
The Zani brothers and their families had arrived in the field on the followingnoon of the 24th, invited by an uncle who took care of that place. There, they met González Aguilar, who had arrived with his wife and a daughter. They all lived in Villa La Angostura and even knew each other by sight, but it was the first time they had met.
They shared a barbecue, toasted Christmas and then danced. Until that moment everything was joy. But one of the Zani brothers asked González Aguilar’s wife to dance, which infuriated her. There were discussions, threats until the defendant tried to attack Etchever’s husband with a knife. The woman stepped in to prevent him from being stabbed, and suffered a deep cut to one hand.
The Zani brothers’ uncle demanded that González Aguilar retire. The man, angry, left with his wife and his daughter. She got into her truck, but when she wanted to get out, she got stuck in a stream.
the fatal outcome
According to the accusers’ theory, Julio Raúl approached the truck with a rake. González Aguilar got out of the truck with a 45-caliber firearm and shot the young man. One of the projectiles hit the victim’s chest, killing him. R.ubén Alejandro, who was at a short distance, tried to get closer to help his brother, but was shot.
Etchever recalled that there were several detonations. The experts lifted 4 pods on the spot. She recalled that she wanted to get closer to help her husband, but her brother-in-law warned her that González Aguilar might kill her.
She decided to save her husband’s daughter, who was sleeping in the car and woke up, frightened, by the noise of the shots. She put the baby to safety and went out to ask for help.
“I ran out to get help thinking my husband was passed out. I left with the hope that he was going to get to the hospital, that he was going to be saved, that he was going to live”, rselling.
He climbed up the paths of a hill as best he might. “It was an atypical night because there was not even a moon,” he said. Cars did not pass through National Route 40 either. The field where the tragedy occurred is located at kilometer 2083.
“I was bleeding from the wound on my hand, and I don’t know how, but I was able to call an emergency phone number and ask for help,” he said. She was shocked. She still does not know if she was treated at the Bariloche hospital or at a police station. When she returned, her husband was already dead. Her brother-in-law died two days later.
“I am living something that should not have happened“, the woman said. She recognized that the defendant has the right to defend himself. “I understand that,” she asserted. But she affirmed that the defendant “made a fatal decision. He did not need to have killed ”.
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