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That's Soledad.

Mirian,

María Eugenia,

Mónica, Cañizares,

Silvia, Nancy, Marcela.

♪ I'm in fifth A!
I'm in fifth A! ♪

Sing!

We had been planning
our year-end trip to Carlos Paz.

Since it was expensive,

obviously not all of the girls
were able to pay for that kind of trip.

So we came up with the idea
to host fundraising dances,

to help the girls
who needed a little bit of help.

And I was one of them.

It was the Spring Fling,

the queen's election.

We had the party
on the night of Friday, September 7, 1990.

It was at a club downtown.

LE FEU ROUGE CLUB
SEPTEMBER 7TH - 1990

We didn't live in the capital,
where the party was,

so we needed someone to come pick us up.

Somebody who would be able
to take us home.

Sole asked me,
"Where am I going to sleep?"

"I don't have a way to get home."

And so I said to her,

"Stay with me. It's no problem."

"Stay at my house."

It was called
"The Night of the Surprise."

I don't even remember
why we called it that,

Night of the Surprise.

That night,
all of us went to the club with a dream.

We all had responsibilities
and jobs to do for the fundraiser.

And Sole was on ticket duty.

There were so many people.
It seemed like everyone was there.

Anything that could go wrong,
did go wrong that night.

Nothing ended up going smoothly.

We lost the bouquets,
which were supposed to be for the queen.

It was a very, very strange night.

Something went
inexplicably wrong.

I said to Sole,
"Let's go home now."

She told me, "No, just wait for me
a little bit longer, Ro."

I said, "Okay."

Forty minutes later, I asked her again,

"Sole, come on."

That's when she told me
she wasn't coming home with me.

I asked why.

And she said,

"They're taking me."

And I asked her, "Who is taking you?"

And she told me,

"You know who."

And that's when I realized…

it was him.

At around 3:00 a.m.,
the girls called me and said,

"Marilyn, it's chaos in here.
The lights went out."

"You need to come help."

I ran out.
That was the last time I ever saw Sole.

She was gone when I got back.

I should've fought harder for her to stay.

I should've pushed back.

I should've put my foot down
and told her, "No."

I told my family you’d come home with me
and stay the night,

so that’s what’s going to happen.

I should've stood my ground, but I didn't.

At two or three in the morning,
María Soledad vanished.

Did she leave with Tula?

Did she go to the bus stop?

From the moment she left,

nobody knows
what happened to María Soledad.

BREAKING THE SILENCE:
THE MARIA SOLEDAD CASE

♪ How to stop time?
And live it again ♪

Marilyn always used to
play the guitar,

and when we hung out,
we'd all sing and dance together.

But when Marilyn played slower,
more romantic songs,

Soledad would cry.

I asked her once, "Why are you crying?"

SOLE'S CLASSMATE

And she told me that she had
what she called an impossible love.

It seemed to me like
she was kind of trying to hide it.

As if she was ashamed
of admitting she was in love.

But after a while,
I was able to figure it out.

She wrote a lot.

We all knew that she liked to write poems

and lots of other things as well.

You could tell by
the way that she wrote about him.

He really was her first love.

WE'RE NOT FREE

She was struggling so much
because he was a lot older than her.

He was 28.

And she never introduced us to him.

There was never a time she said,
"Guys, this is my boyfriend."

I saw him once.

SOLE'S CLASSMATE

Sole and I were leaving school together.

We walked out, and he was just walking by.

She said, "There goes El Flaco."

She called him "El Flaco."

We were waiting at a bus stop
when Sole came up to me and said,

"Mirian, come here, come here."

"I've got a friend
who's gonna come pick us up."

I asked her, "Who?"

And she said, "It's Luis."

And I told her, "No, I'm not coming."

"I'm not allowed to get into cars
with people I don't know."

"Go if you want, but I'm not coming."

And so she goes,
"Ugh, Mirian. I hate you. I want to go."

But I didn't get in.

And so she ended up staying with me.

She didn't get in,
the car started up, and left.

It was supposedly…

the boy she liked, Luis Tula.

I didn't know who he was.

So I told her, "All that matters
is that you're in love."

"How dreamy!"

I didn't know
who she was really talking to.

CARMEN Y SAN JOSÉ HIGH SCHOOL

That Monday, I got to school,
and one of the girls,

I don't remember who,
ran up to me, really scared, and said,

"Mónica, have you heard from Sole?
She never made it home."

And I just said, "What?"

On that Monday, I had a class,

and it happened
to be facing the courtyard.

There was a man out there,
standing right in front of the flagpole.

PRINCIPAL

He started shouting at me
from the courtyard. He said,

"Sister, my daughter never came home!"

I asked him who he was.

He said he was Elías Morales,
María Soledad's father.

I asked, "Where is she?"

And he said, "She went to the dance
and never came back."

He said they'd spent
the whole weekend looking for María,

but they couldn't find her.

At that point,
without asking him anything else,

I got up,
and I brought him into the classroom.

FATHER OF MARÍA SOLEDAD

I still remember him
coming up in front of us.

He said, "Girls, all I want to know is
where my daughter is."

"If she went to spend the night
somewhere else,

if she's at someone else's house,
tell me."

We said, "We don't know where she is.
Why wouldn't we tell you?"

"We have no idea."

We didn't know anything

or have any information
that could help Mr. Morales,

so he left.

The teachers
all left the classrooms.

That made us nervous.

What reason would they have
to leave class?

They left us alone
in the classroom,

but we weren't allowed to leave.

We couldn't leave school.

Our classroom
was right by the main entrance,

and next to
the main entrance was the office.

So one of us went
and she opened up the window

to see if she could hear anything.

And then suddenly…

At around eleven in the morning,

Elías Morales came back in.

And he was screaming,
"They found my daughter!"

Patricia

got really close to the window.

She heard Mr. Morales yell,
"She's… She's dead! She's dead!"

It was chaos.

The teachers
and the assistants ran around,

trying to keep all of the girls
from leaving the classrooms.

Windows got broken,
some of them were actually hurt.

Out of anger, out of powerlessness,
I punched a door,

and still have the scar to this day.

And they had to give me sedatives
because I was just completely panicking.

It was…

horrible.

We were all so distraught.

It's so sad.

A few days before…

…we had all shared such a joyful Saturday.

And then to receive
such terrible news on Monday…

I don't even know
how my classmates and I made it

from the high school to the bus stop.

How any of us were even
able to get onto the bus, I don't know.

I do remember
that when I got home, I walked in,

and I told my family that my classmate,
Sole, was the one who had died.

She had been killed.

Sorry.

We were 17 years old.

We lived in a bubble…
a bubble of complete innocence.

We were excited about our senior trip,
our senior dinner.

But that was the day
that we discovered evil existed.

Early Monday morning,

a bus driver was traveling the route
between Valle Viejo and the capital.

When approaching Villa Parque Chacabuco,

he saw some people parked on the side
of the road as he passed the turn.

ON AIR

He thought they'd been in an accident,
so he got out.

JOURNALIST

But he quickly noticed
that something was off.

These people were behaving very strangely.

He thought they were acting suspiciously.

And then, just a few hours later,

in the exact same place where
the bus driver had seen those people,

two workers discovered
the body of María Soledad.

This is the road
that leads towards Villa Chacabuco.

Her corpse was found along the road here,

in a ditch.

An area not too far
from where her parents' house is.

When the girl was discovered,
she was found half-buried in an area…

ARGENTINE FEDERAL POLICE

…which was on the outskirts of the city.

María Soledad Morales's
body was badly disfigured.

In your career, have you ever seen
a body with so many injuries?

CHIEF OF POLICE

No, never. Never.

The police
continue to work tirelessly.

But there are still no updates.

Multiple accusations
of negligence have been made,

with many claiming that
the first responders and police officers

failed to secure the scene of the crime.

At 8:30, I was able to walk
right by the police, all of them.

NEIGHBOR

I was able to walk right up to the girl.

And if I could do that, anybody could.

They didn't cordon the area off
or cover the body at all.

They were just walking around.

The body was found facedown, so it was
hard to tell what the victim's sex was.

But somehow some of the police
already knew it was María Soledad.

They weren't properly
preserving the site where she was found.

There were inconsistencies.

All of this validated the rumors

that their goal
was to impede the investigation.

The police have called
for the arrest of Luis Tula,

who is said to be the primary suspect,

due to his alleged romantic relationship
with María Soledad Morales.

The judge overseeing the case
has agreed to hear a plea from Luis Tula,

who was detained
as the sole suspect in the death

of the young student from Catamarca.

POLICE STATION NUMBER FOUR - REGIONAL UNIT
CATAMARCA POLICE

This afternoon,
after several hours of questioning,

Tula was released from police custody
due to a lack of evidence.

It appears that this case

is far from closed.

When we went
to the funeral the next day,

we agreed to go in our school uniforms.

To honor her,
because she loved her uniform.

The Lord has opened
the gates of heaven for his daughter,

María Soledad Morales,

so that she may return to the land
where death is no more.

María's funeral
was on her 18th birthday.

Eighteen years old.

I remember
that it was cloudy that day.

And when we were carrying her casket,

I saw

drops of water on it.

I thought it was raining.

Her entire coffin

was completely covered in tears.

They were our tears.

All we could do was cry.

Because

we couldn't see her anymore.

The entire street
was full of police officers.

There were police
and police cars everywhere.

They wanted to talk to the girls,
and get their statements.

And I said, "Excuse me,
but these girls are minors."

"They'll give a statement
when their parents are present."

The girls were all afraid.

Rumors were already spreading.

The entire town of Catamarca was talking.

But all of us knew.

We weren't gonna let it go.

Shortly after they found the body,

we started to hear some whispers.

Some names were being thrown around.

These were the names of people
who you'd never expect to be

involved in anything like this.

People were saying that
there were politicians' sons involved.

Powerful people.

We didn't know
what we were getting ourselves into,

but the only thing we wanted was justice.

For those who did this to pay.

We needed an explanation,
and to figure out what happened.

Why they killed her, and who killed her.

And so, collectively, we decided

that we needed to take to the streets

to demand justice.

Sister Martha
didn't approve at first

because she thought it was too dangerous.

HELP ME, CATAMARCA.

They sent our parents
permission slips

that would allow us to march.

I demanded that anybody who
was going to be attending that protest,

needed to bring written permission
from their parents.

A lot of the parents,
maybe most of them, didn't agree

because they were afraid something
would happen to us at the march.

But by mid-morning,

Sister Martha told us
that the police chief had shown up,

and she told us that the protest was off.

Ferreyra, the police chief,

came to the school
before the girls could go out.

He came into my office that day

and started laying out all of these
theories about María Soledad's death

so that he could kind of
keep me trapped in the office.

VOICE OF MIGUEL ÁNGEL FERREYRA
POLICE CHIEF

I went to visit Carmen High School
to speak with the Sister in private.

And we talked in her office
for approximately 30 to 40 minutes.

The meeting was…

It wasn't very cordial.

The two of them talked
in the office for a while.

A long time.

He had three theories as to what happened.

The first was that she had some relative
who was a butcher,

who knew how to work with knives,
and could cut her up like that.

Second, that it was some kind of cult.

That she had…

that… that she had been killed
in a satanic ritual.

Like, she was sacrificed
to complete a ritual.

And then finally,
that it was an act of revenge.

That it was some kind of lover's quarrel,

that they were really trying
to tarnish María Soledad's reputation.

That was his goal.

To fill our heads
with all of these theories,

like that it had been a satanic cult.

He was presenting
all of these things to kind of start

orchestrating the entire cover-up.

I didn't believe any of these theories.

I listened to him,
I sat and listened to him,

but my receptionist would keep
coming into the office to pull me outside.

And so I went out there,
and the whole school was ready to march.

There were 500 girls standing in silence,
side by side with their teachers.

Mr. Ferreyra,

did you, at any time, try to prevent

Carmen High School
from going out to march,

or try to prevent any March of Silence?

No, I never did anything
to try to stop the March of Silence.

He said, "Look, Sister,

you're liable for anything
that happens out there."

And I asked, "What's going to happen?"

"We're just trying to figure out
what happened to María Soledad."

"So what's gonna happen?"

"Please. You tell me
what might happen at this march."

We waited and waited.

And then Sister Martha came out.

And she said,
"I can't let you go out there."

She goes, "How can I guarantee
that you'll be safe?"

PLEASE, JUSTICE FOR SOLE!

And so we said, "To make it
easier on you, we'll be silent."

"That's how we'll protest.

"We'll march in silence.
We won't do anything."

And so she finally said to us, "Go ahead."

WE DEMAND JUSTICE
FOR OUR CLASSMATE, MARÍA SOLEDAD

FIRST MARCH OF SILENCE

There weren't that many of us
in that first march.

Besides ourselves, the only people
who joined were our families.

We were all very scared.

We were holding onto each other tightly,

with our arms intertwined because

we could all feel this intense pressure
from the police.

They did not want us out there,
marching in the streets.

Catamarca
essentially stood still

as we marched through the streets.

To me, what was amazing to see

was the people who started coming out
into the nearby streets,

who stopped their cars, and got out,

almost as if the national anthem
was playing or something.

And they just stood there

and watched us pass by.

Kind of joining us in that way.

All you could hear
was the tap-tap of our feet.

And that's how
the "Marches of Silence" started.

When we arrived
at the front of the cathedral,

we prayed.

All of us prayed together.

We asked the Virgin Mary
to help us in our search for justice.

For her to bring justice.

IN SILENCE,
YOUTHS DEMANDED JUSTICE YESTERDAY.

THE CRIES OF SILENCE

After the march,
Sister Martha was proud of us.

She told us that
our behavior was exemplary,

and we had her full support.

The march today
began in complete silence.

SECOND MARCH OF SILENCE

Up front here,
we see Sister Martha Pelloni,

who is the principal
of Carmen High School,

where María Soledad was a student.

Standing beside her

are both of María Soledad's parents.

Could you move, Cuqui?

CITY OF BUENOS AIRES
1,128 KM FROM CATAMARCA

I was working for Telefe News.

For three days straight,
the El Clarín newspaper

printed the same little story.

YOUNG GIRL KILLED IN CATAMARCA

And this caught the attention of
our news director, Carlos Montero.

He noticed that the article kept repeating
the same thing over and over again.

"The children of power."

It sounded creepy.

So he decided to send a team to Catamarca
to find out what was going on.

And he ended up choosing me to go as well.

It was strange
because they usually sent men.

San Fernando del Valle de Catamarca,
a city for the masses.

Sleepy and silent.

A Christian city, with 90,000 inhabitants.

It seems as if everyone here
has been riled up

by the discovery of a body.

It was desecrated.
And it belonged to María Soledad Morales.

The first week we were there,

we went into the streets
to interview people.

I'd ask them
what they thought about the case.

"What do you think happened
to María Soledad?"

"What do you think of the case?"

And people would turn away
and go like this.

They hid their faces
and refused to talk to us.

Could you tell us what locals
are saying about the Morales case?

No, I really don't have
anything to say about it.

I wasn't here when it happened.

That was
the first thing we noticed.

We feel a bit helpless. People are scared.

I'm not exactly sure what we're scared of,
but all of us are afraid.

I think everyone around here is afraid.

I actually ended up missing
two weeks of classes

because I was afraid of going outside.

We think that…

the people who did it
are still out here among us.

So what happened to her
could happen to us.

The one thing people
kept saying to us was,

"You'll all leave one day,

but all of us,
we still have to live here."

There's a lot of fear in Catamarca.

Who's powerful enough
to terrify an entire city?

The powerful.

Nobody would talk
to me about María Soledad.

So we went to Carmen High School,
which is where María Soledad went.

And the principal,
Martha Pelloni, was incredibly welcoming.

Sister Martha, do you think people
know more than they're letting on?

Or maybe they know more than they say
they do, but are too afraid to testify?

Yes, I'm 100% certain of that.

Then I said, "Sister,
you've got quite a set of ovaries!"

And Martha covered up
the camera with her hand, and she said,

"No, Fanny, don't say that."

So, I asked her if I could go inside
María Soledad's old classroom.

She was a fifth-year student
at Carmen High School.

Nothing has ever been the same
since September 8th.

These girls
really opened up to me a lot.

FRIENDS FOREVER
TRUE FRIENDS

All of us had dreamed
about graduating

and really enjoying
our last year at school together.

And we were all so excited
to go on our senior trip, you know?

And then suddenly one of us was just gone.

And the worst part of all of it was…

the way that she…

It was worse
because of what they'd done to her.

So that was very hard.

There's an empty seat there
behind you. Was that's María's?

Yes, that's right.
That was hers. We just…

We just don't understand, you know?

This massacre, we can't compare it
to an animal, 'cause no animal would

kill her the way that they did.

There's no explanation for cutting
a life short the way that they did.

Sergio, how did this case impact
the country socially and politically?

JOURNALIST

The sheer brutality of the murder,

and in particular, the circumstances
that surrounded the case,

were what originally got
the national media interested.

So everyone went to Catamarca.

Everyone was paying attention
to this crime.

But there was also
a political situation going on.

Everybody here knows that

Catamarca's government
is all based on nepotism.

Catamarca was like
the Kingdom of the Saadis.

And there's Ramón Saadi
up on people's shoulders.

It's 6:30 p.m. here in Catamarca.
We'll try and get to him!

GOVERNOR OF CATAMARCA

Ramón Saadi had been elected
the governor of Catamarca back in 1983.

He was the son of the powerful national
Peronist political leader Vicente Saadi,

who mentored Carlos Saúl Menem,

who would become
the President of Argentina.

PRESIDENT OF ARGENTINA

Carlos Menem owed
his entire political career

to Vicente Saadi.

Ramón inherited his power,
because his father had it.

He surrounded himself
with a bunch of these thugs,

who, you know, would eventually
go onto become congressmen and senators,

so that he could
essentially do whatever he wanted.

They appointed the judges they wanted.

They appointed
the police that they wanted.

They ran it like their own kingdom.

So, there was already this history
of silencing and controlling people,

because he was the king of Catamarca.

Governor, may I ask you something?
Talk to your people.

When we met in his office,
this dimly lit room,

the first thing he asked me was,

"Are you not afraid
to walk in the streets alone?"

He ruled with complete impunity.

And there's Governor Ramón Saadi.

MARCH FOR TRUTH
OCTOBER 25, 1990

He's leading the march.

GOV. SAADI INVITES ALL PEOPLE
TO THE ASSEMBLY

The governor organized
what they called the "March for Truth."

They brought in militants from all sides

to protest what they were calling
a political movement

against the government.

I can guarantee you
that as a citizen, as a father,

and, most importantly,

as Catamarca's governor,

that whoever is responsible
for committing this crime

will pay for what they've done,

and be punished in a court of law.

Catamarca! Catamarca!
Catamarca! Catamarca!

THE MARCH FOR TRUTH, A POOR IMITATION

SAADI COULD ONLY GATHER 7,000 AT MARCH

I want to tell all of Argentina
that we've known from the start,

from the very beginning,

who did this and how.

The crime has already been solved, but…

but those responsible have
a lot of political power in Catamarca.

And the people who killed
my daughter will stop at nothing

to cover up this crime.
To cover up what they did.

But we will not let that happen.

Everybody in Catamarca
knows each other in some way,

so they will not get away with this.

Then, the following week,

thirty thousand people joined
the seventh "March of Silence."

SEVENTH MARCH OF SILENCE

Seventh March of Silence.

Thirty thousand people
are marching together.

That's one third
of Catamarca's population.

It was the first time we'd
seen a case cause a mass social movement.

It had never happened before.

I mean, never.

♪ Let us join hands! Let us join hands! ♪

♪ Let's join hands in the end
In the end! ♪

♪ I feel certainty in my heart ♪

♪ That we'll win in the end ♪

As governor of Catamarca,

I've been working tirelessly
with local officials, around the clock,

to uncover the truth of this case.

You have to remember, though, that,
while some cases can be solved quickly,

others can, unfortunately,
take a lot more time to crack.

SOMETHING'S ROTTEN IN CATAMARCA

These marches were covered
by outlets across the country.

So, the national government
felt pressured,

and they basically had no choice
but to get involved.

President Menem
has proposed that Governor Saadi

appoint Deputy Commissioner Luis Patti
to lead the investigation.

They sent Patti,
who was quite popular with the police,

and known to be ruthless.

People thought
he'd be able to solve the case.

It's 10:00 a.m. here,
and as you can see behind me,

there's a plane on the runway.

Deputy Commissioner Luis Patti
has arrived.

When Patti arrived in Catamarca,
he was welcomed as if he had…

he had already solved the crime.

PATTI, YOU'RE OUR HOPE

Patti! Patti!

BE STRONG, PATTI
WE LOVE YOU

He's the only one who will
do something for our people.

To bring justice for María Soledad!

Why Patti? Because we have faith in him!

And he's done great work
in Buenos Aires as well.

Deputy Commissioner Patti
has officially begun his investigation!

Deputy Commissioner Patti has ordered
a manual search to be conducted

in the area where
María Soledad's body was found.

They can't use machines.

They're going to manually search
for anything

that may be of interest in this case,
identify and report it.

Typically though,
a search of the crime scene

and surrounding area is conducted
as soon as a body is found, right?

In theory and in practice, yes.

But this hasn't been done
since September 10th?

That's correct.
This type of search never took place.

Patti, since you've
arrived here in Catamarca,

do you feel that any progress
has been made in the investigation?

Well, clearly we've made some progress,
haven't we?

Do you think you're getting closer?

A homicide investigation has no timeline,
so we'll just have to wait and see.

He wanted to talk to me, so he asked
if he could meet with me at my house.

He wanted me to go
to the Federal Justice Department.

But I told him, "No. If you want to talk,
we can do it at my house."

I gave him the exact same information
we gave to the president,

the exact same names.

I did that because we wanted
to make sure the investigation

wasn't derailed or slowed down in any way.

Do you think the
investigation's been purposely derailed?

Or are Patti's statements
just causing it to lose focus?

I don't think I can judge his work
because I don't know him.

But if they're only focusing on Tula,

then they're heading
in the wrong direction.

It originally appeared
to be a crime of passion.

María Soledad was dating
a man who was ten years older than her.

That was Luis Tula.

Tula was…

poor.

Tula worked as a road worker.

But he wanted a better life,
so he was also in school.

He was married… or not.

JOURNALIST

He…

Tula was a strange person.

Have you had a chance
to read Patti's interview?

I read some of it.

I'll read you a little bit.

"He says, 'It was a crime of passion.'"

"They ask him how he's sure.
Patti responds, 'For several reasons.'"

"'There are three or four
possible theories.'

"'The only strong one
is a crime of passion.'"

"'Somebody drove off with María Soledad,
and she most likely left in Tula's car.'"

They wanted it to be Tula
because, later on,

some more prominent people
started to become suspects.

Exactly. And that's what Menem
was trying to prevent by sending Patti.

WE HAVE A SUSPECT

They tortured Luis Tula.

And they essentially
promised him the world

if he confessed to killing María Soledad.

- How much did they offer?
Two million dollars.

- You didn't take it?
I didn't take anything.

Nothing?

They wanted something quick.

They wanted the case closed.

VENTIMIGLIA AND PATTI DON'T AGREE
ON WHO THE SUSPECT IS

Without any politicians.
But it depended on the judge.

When you boil it down,
Deputy Commissioner Patti's main theory

is that Maria's murder
was a crime driven by passion.

That it was simply the result
of some kind of love triangle situation.

But, uh, let's just say that
my own theory is a bit broader in scope.

Immediately after
María Soledad was killed,

people were linking her death
to these "children of power."

And everyone suspected it because

these children of power

would often go after these girls,
these "chinitas," as they would call them.

These high-society boys,
these politicians' sons,

would often call
lower-class girls chinitas.

These "children," the sons of these
powerful politicians, were known to have

this habit of going out on weekends.

They'd go out to have fun with girls.

But they'd specifically
look for young girls.

Obviously, they weren’t
intentionally going out

to rape and kill girls every weekend,

but they knew that, whatever they did,
they had a certain kind of impunity.

Guillermo Luque's name
first came up

because his car matched the vehicle
witnesses had described

that picked up María Soledad
from the bus stop that night.

There was a lady who ran in these,
let's call them "governmental circles."

This woman was hosting
a tea party at her house.

And she told her friends that…

that Guillermo Luque had killed a chinita.

Is it possible
that Tula is also involved in this?

Does he have connections
with these people?

First of all, it's a definite possibility.

So it might not be Tula or Luque,
but it could be both Tula and Luque?

And there might be a few others as well.

First of all,
I haven't been accused of anything.

And second,
there's absolutely no evidence.

Not only is there no proof
that I committed the crime,

there's also no proof
I was even in Catamarca.

Luque lived in Buenos Aires,

and he worked in
the National Library of Congress.

Did you see Guillermo Luque
in Catamarca on Friday, September 7th?

WITNESS

Yes, I did.
I saw him at a special event in town.

On República street,
between Salta and Rivadavia.

1ST PRE-TRIAL HEARING

Judge Ventimiglia has
ordered the arrest of Guillermo Luque.

Do you have any updates
for us on the potential arrest

of Congressman Luque's son, Guillermo?

No. I mean, there's an arrest warrant.

DEPUTY COMMISSIONER

And I know that
they're getting ready to detain him,

and that should be happening anytime now.

Some are claiming that Guillermo Luque
has already managed to leave the country.

Is that true?

No, he has to be in Buenos Aires.

Commissioner Patti has
flown to Buenos Aires,

but Guillermo Luque has
so-far managed to evade the authorities.

As a result,
the renowned police commissioner

is now facing
a barrage of harsh criticism.

- Are you going to take Patti's place?
- No. Patti is going to be…

He'll be relieved by
the Undersecretary of Justice.

Is he working with you?

Differences between
himself and the judge

forced him to return to Buenos Aires.

Did you fail in Catamarca?

No.

He left empty handed.

He didn't achieve anything at all.

Is Guillermo
still in the country?

Guillermo's on vacation.
He's actually out on the coast.

GUILLERMO'S FATHER, CONGRESSMAN

He's currently either traveling to
Punta del Este, or he's already there.

But he's been in constant contact
with us the whole time,

just in case the judge subpoenas him.

Guillermo Luque.

He's the son of both
a national congressman

and a local congresswoman.

A true Catamarcan child of power.

Menem, who was the president at the time,

was very close friends
with Ramón Saadi and Angel Luque.

On our plane to Catamarca,

we find Guillermo Luque returning
from vacation on the same flight.

However,

Mr. Luque told us that he won't be
speaking to us or any other press today.

Correct, I will not speak to the press
until I've met with the judge.

I've returned from abroad.

If I had any doubts about this situation,

do you honestly think
I would've come back?

People have said
I'm protected by political power.

If that were true,
there would be an easier option.

To distance myself from this.

I came back because I'm innocent.

Guillermo Luque
finds himself in jeopardy.

A new witness has come forward
with damning testimony

that could disprove Mr. Luque's alibi.

And this witness also implicates him
in María Soledad's murder.

There's a group of people
who have decided to come together

and they're accusing me
of committing this crime.

They're attempting to spread
misinformation about me

to throw everyone off the scent.

And they're trying to distract
the people of Catamarca,

and divide our community.

Mr. Luque left on Friday the 7th,

at around ten at night, and then
he came back on Saturday at 5:00 p.m.

Who else was there on Friday?

"El Hueso" Ibáñez came to pick him up.

FRIEND OF GUILLERMO LUQUE

When he returned on Saturday,
he was alone.

Not long after, I overheard him
and his father in the bedroom.

His father was yelling at him.
You could hear everything.

He yelled, "What have you done?"
Then they left again.

Then at around six or seven
in the evening, they returned.

They handed me clothes,
pants and underwear, covered in blood.

They wanted me to wash them.

THE WALL OF SILENCE IS CRUMBLING

They took the car to La Merced
and they left it there.

- Who washed the car? Moreno?
Moreno washed the car.

What's your job
at Congressman Luque's house?

I'm the gardener, sir.

I noticed something on the car.

I could see that there was something red.

I tried to get a better look,
and Moreno told me it was blood.

It looked like Guillermo killed a girl.

My son, Guillermo Daniel Luque,

was not in Catamarca
on the 7th, 8th, or 9th.

If you saw my son on the 7th,
8th, 9th, or 10th of September,

go report it to the police,
go to the courts.

Did they try
and offer you any money?

They didn't offer me anything.

They just threatened you?

They just threatened me.

Who specifically threatened you?

Ángel Luque.

The Luques told Ramón Medina

that if he talked,
they would kill his mother.

To anyone who bears false witness,

let's just see how that turns out for you.

In your opinion,

has the situation been
getting worse for Guillermo Luque?

I think so.
The investigation is still ongoing.

But I think that as it goes further,

it's starting to look a lot worse
for the two accused men,

especially Guillermo Luque.

Have you testified today,
Guillermo?

- This is ridiculous, it's a complete sham.
- Why?

Because… Because all of this is a setup.

What do you mean by "setup," Guillermo?
Who is setting you up?

But, it was Luque's father

who really put the cherry on top.

Ángel Luque.

Amid the flood
of accusations against his son,

the congressman resorted
to flexing his power.

And when a journalist questioned him
about his son's innocence,

Congressman Luque responded,
with full impunity,

"Do you honestly think that
if my son had done this

the body would've been found?"

He said this as a man
who clearly felt untouchable.

Everyone took that to mean,
"In Catamarca, this happens a lot."

"It's just that the bodies
aren't being found."

It was just terrible.

It was enough to get
Ángel Luque expelled from Congress.

This had never happened before.

Angel Luque was the first legislator,
in the entire history of Argentina,

to be expelled from National Congress.

Luque's expulsion
happened very quickly.

Some are even claiming
that Catamarcan authorities

were trying to cover up his actions.

Absolutely not.

The provincial government in Catamarca

has never covered up anything
in regards to Mr. Luque,

nor anyone else for that matter.

They've come after me this time,
like they came after my son.

My expulsion from Congress
was politically motivated.

I'm waiting to be told
what crime I committed.

Nobody's actually accused me
of doing anything wrong.

They're the ones
who are covering up a crime.

CALL ATTRIBUTED TO ÁNGEL LUQUE
AND VÍCTOR PINTO

This looks really bad…

If the prez there
doesn't control this,

it'll get out of hand, don't you think?

What does he mean by that?
"The prez there"?

This is where
Pinto made a critical mistake.

He basically tells Luque
that if "the prez there" doesn't intervene

it's gonna get out of hand.

Okay, "The prez there."
So he means the nation's President.

Intervention!
We won't go! The people won't go!

- The people won't go! We won't go!
- We have a problem here.

It's turning into a tough situation.

Menem is corrupt!

- It's starting to get tense.
- Menem is corrupt! Menem is corrupt!

There's a heavy
police presence forming here.

They just lit something on fire.

And there are
a lot of police officers here.

Marilyn, I hear that yourself
and María Soledad's other young classmates

want to extend an invitation to
the rest of the youth across the country.

That's right.

We actually want to extend that
invitation to everyone across the country,

to all people, those both young and old.

We wanted to do a national march.

We thought, "We have to do this.
Everyone is behind this."

"We have to organize
a march in every city,

and we need to do it for Sole."

We want everyone to join us
in our silent cries for justice,

which are called "The Marches of Silence."

JUSTICE

APRIL 18TH - 1991

I did that
national march in Buenos Aires.

But they also took place at the same time
across many different provinces,

throughout the country.

222 DAYS AFTER THE CRIME

JESUS, I TRUST IN YOU

The priests
were our "human shields."

They put themselves on
the front lines during the marches,

because we'd been warned that people
might be hiding on top of buildings.

And that there could be
a stray bullet headed towards us.

SOLE LIVES

We knew it was dangerous.

But we had to do it.

In the face of this cover up,

and all of this impunity,

and in the face of all of these abuses,

we need to come together.

We're all united by one thing.

We're united by what's in our hearts.

It's the desire for our country

to once and for all,

be ruled by the justice we all deserve.

Justice! Justice!

♪ Let us join hands! ♪

♪ Let us join hands! Let us join hands! ♪

♪ In the end, in the end! ♪

NOBEL PEACE PRIZE WINNER

♪ I feel certainty in my heart ♪

♪ That we'll win in the end! ♪

What moved me
the most was that people

throughout the entire country
got behind us.

None of us ever imagined
that would happen.

What did the national march result in?

There was a federal intervention
in Catamarca.

The march was so impactful
that it caused a federal intervention.

In my capacity as president of Argentina,

I have made the decision today

to declare a federal intervention over
the executive and legislative branches

of the provincial government of Catamarca.

I've hired a federal intervenor
to oversee this.

I've selected Mr. Luis Prol.

LUIS PROL NAMED INTERVENOR
A TENSE CLIMATE IN CATAMARCA

With all due respect
to my dear friend,

today he made one of the biggest mistakes
that a president can make.

He has made the decision
that he will no longer respect

our methods of governing here.

Ramón was a good friend of Menem's,
a very good friend.

He deeply trusted Menem.
And Menem betrayed him.

GOODBYE, CRUEL BROTHER

When President Menem realized

that he couldn't
do anything to save Saadi,

and that Saadi could actually
bring down his political career,

he cut ties.

FROM VICENTE TO RAMÓN SAADI
A DRIED-UP DYNASTY

The crowd is celebrating
the arrival of the federal intervenor,

as he arrives in Catamarca.

But with all of this going on,

María Soledad seemed to be forgotten.

She disappeared.

Disappeared.

She got lost in the records.

No one thought about her.

People were thinking about Saadi,

who'd be brought down next,
what Menem would do.

She was forgotten.

The intervenor, Luis Prol,
has called for elections in Catamarca.

They might be the most pivotal elections
in the history of the province.

Even though he was dismissed
during the federal intervention,

Saadi still had
so much political influence

that he decided to run for office again.

The radicals and the anti-Saadi Peronists,

put forward an old,
Catamarcan radical as their candidate.

The elections in Catamarca
have resulted in a polarized contest

between the ex-governor, Ramón Saadi,
and the radical, Arnoldo Castillo.

Mr. Saadi,
is this the most difficult election

you've been involved in?

No, not at all. Not in my opinion.

The thing is, that, this is…

This behavior is the…

It's the behavior of a community
that's been shaken to their core.

They've all been affected by this
merciless campaign that started last year.

The people of Catamarca
will vote based on…

their personal desire to see
the end of government corruption.

So, they'll either
use their vote responsibly,

or they'll vote to stick with Saadi.

Sister Martha's secular prayer,

as they called it, to "not be afraid,"

had a big effect.

The Civil and Social Front
has won the election.

People came out to celebrate
in the central square in Catamarca.

Sister, people are saying you played a key
role in fueling this change in Catamarca.

Well, if that's what people are saying,

then, yes,
I think I may have inspired people

thanks to my role in the community
as a religious leader,

and my commitment
to denouncing wrongdoing.

And hopefully all of the incredible
promise that Catamarca has shown today

will continue on into the future.

What do you want
from the new government

regarding your daughter's case?

Well, I'd like the crime to be solved,

and for her killers
to be put where they belong.

What we want
is a transparent government,

where we do not
differentiate between any person.

Our aim is to have justice
act like justice here.

So that means that anyone
who's committed a crime,

under any government,

will have to pay.

They transferred me in December of 1991.

And we will soon be joined
by Sister Martha Pelloni.

I'm convinced that Menem
asked the bishop to transfer me.

And I believe the bishop
talked to my congregation.

The community of Catamarca must ask
to be cleansed of all of its guilt.

BISHOP OF CATAMARCA

We must do this, so that justice
can finally, finally, flourish.

Menem went to see Monsignor Miani,

and he asked him

to have her removed.

They figured that
if they got rid of Sister Pelloni,

then the marches would fall apart,
and we'd finally be quiet.

The goal was to get me out of here.
To get me out of Catamarca.

Sister Martha was such
an important person to all of us.

She was like a pillar of strength.

So when she left,
it felt like we were orphans.

- Our Mother of the Valley…
- Pray for us.

It wasn't so much
the shock of her leaving…

VOW OF SOLITUDE

…but the fact that they needed
to flex their political power,

and pressure us to stay silent.

But despite all of this,
we didn't stop.

And she told us,

"Don't give up. Keep going."

But it was hard.

And at the time,

we really felt like our world
was crumbling around us.

But we had to keep going.

We had to.

As a result
of the federal intervention,

the newly established government decided
to bring in these lawyers from Córdoba

to fill out the Judicial Branch
in Catamarca.

The new government,
which was called the Civic Front,

felt intense political pressure to
expedite the María Soledad Morales trial.

But they didn't have an Attorney General.

There was internal bickering,
and people were divided.

Half who were against Saadi,
and half who were Saadi supporters.

So, if the prosecutor
was chosen internally,

they would essentially be facing off
against half the community automatically.

Which meant it would be very difficult
to choose someone from Catamarca.

Because of all this,
they decided they wanted to find

a prosecutor
from the judiciary in Córdoba.

And so they eventually chose me.

And I took over the case.

I'm Gustavo Taranto. I lived here
when prosecuting María Soledad's trial.

- How's it going?
- How are you?

Do you remember me at all, or no?

- I do.
- Huh?

You're from Córdoba.

- Yes, Córdoba, exactly.
- From the María Soledad case.

- Exactly.
- I was just telling her.

- Yes, of course, I remember you. Yes.
- Well…

On the 26th of February,

the trial started,

beginning the process
to finally shed some light

on the death of María Soledad Morales.

6 YEARS AFTER THE CRIME

The trial is being held in Catamarca's
Criminal Chamber number two,

and will be overseen by three judges.

First is Judge Rodolfo Ortiz Iramaín,

who is also the Chief Judge.

Alongside him is
Judge Juan Carlos Sampayo,

and also civil court judge,
María Alejandra Azar.

Here come the Morales.
The Morales family's arriving.

Stay strong, Ada, stay strong!

How are all of you holding up?

I'm doing well, thank God.
We're feeling strong, stronger than ever.

All we're hoping for
is that justice is finally served.

The judges have collectively
decided that Channel Six Catamarca

will be granted exclusive permission

to broadcast the trial live,
allowing it to be seen nationwide.

This was totally unprecedented.

To allow a criminal trial to be televised
live was completely out of the ordinary.

- I think that--
- Not even the trial for the Junta.

Exactly. It was almost
like it was a TV show.

I remember that all of us
would gather around the TV.

It would happen
almost every single evening,

and we'd wait for the coverage to start.

The court calls witness
Miguel Ángel Ferreyra.

Mr. Ferreyra,

during your time on this case,

do you recall making any attempts
to derail the investigation,

or mislead those involved?

Look, as police chief,

and in my capacity as a witness,

I do not know what you're referring to.

It's like
there were two stories.

The official story, on record,

that had originally closed
the initial murder investigation,

and the story on the streets.

On the evening of September 7th, 1990,

María Soledad said goodbye to her mother
for the last time and left her house.

She then attended a party here
to elect a "Spring Fling" queen.

Thirty years ago, this was "Le Feu Rouge."

You can still see paintings
on the walls from back then.

She wasn't concerned
about electing a queen,

she was focused on getting together

with the person
she was in love with, Luis Tula.

Were you engaged in a romantic
relationship with María Soledad?

Truthfully, I would say yes.

She was very much
in love with Tula,

and she invited him to the club.

Luis showed up, but he didn't stay.

Before the party ended,
he arrived on a motorcycle,

and he told her that he wouldn't
be able to pick her up.

According to her classmates,
this really crushed María.

And so, she eventually decided
she wanted to leave,

and left to take the bus home.

And that was the very last time
she was seen alive.

Standing at the bus stop,
three or four blocks from the club.

It was probably
on this corner here,

and perhaps even at this very bus stop,
where María Soledad's tragic story began.

I had to return
to Catamarca for the trial.

Of course I did.

Sister Pelloni is perhaps
one of the most important witnesses

in the entire case.

What are you hoping for?

- Sister Pelloni!
- We'll talk afterwards.

One of my students, Patricia de la Colina,

told me that a boy she knew
named Marcelo Coronel

spoke to her about the events that night.

According to Patricia,

Marcelo knew five third-year students
at the National High School

who had witnessed, in the early hours
of the morning on September 8th,

Miss María Soledad standing
at the Calle Salta bus stop,

and getting into a car.

They said it was a green "Falcon,"

and that this Falcon was being
driven by Guillermo Luque.

The girl got into the car with the boy,
and he was all alone.

He said that they drove down
Republica extremely fast,

like he was racing.

When he said "the girl…"

- Yes?
- …did you know who he was referring to?

Well, I kind of ended up
connecting the dots.

I assumed that it was María Soledad.

He told me that on Monday.

That very same Monday
that they found Sole's body.

MARCELO CORONEL, ENDANGERED WITNESS

Afterwards, he started saying,
"Oh, that wasn't true."

He told me to say that I'd lied.

- I never told you that.
You did say that.

No, I never said that.

WITNESS

After what they did to me,
do you think I would lie?

- You know what they did to me?
- Yes, I do.

One day, I was brought
into the police station,

and Marcelo was sitting there.

He was all beaten up.

I asked the police
what had happened to him.

And they told me they'd found him
like that at the rugby field.

Then Marcelo asked me
to please say that I had been lying.

I dunno why you don't say it now…

- They didn't do anything to you.
- …or before.

- You're making it all up.
- I didn't make anything up!

He told me that
she walked up to the first car

like she knew the guy who was driving.

The one who was alone.

- I have no reason to make anything up!
- I'm making it up? I never said anything.

At any point.

CHARGES OF PRESSURE, TORTURE,
BRIBES TO HIDE WHO TOOK THE GIRL

The key here
is that her friends,

and they discussed this during her trial,

her friends knew that María Soledad,

because of who she was as a person,

would never have voluntarily
gotten into any car,

unless Tula was in it, or,

unless she knew that the people driving
would take her to where Tula was.

So she eventually got into a Falcon,
and she did so voluntarily.

It belonged to Guillermo Luque.

They took her to Clivus,

a club that neither María
nor her friends would ever go to,

because of how young they were.

And after that,
we don't know exactly what happened.

This used to be Clivus.
It has a new name now.

But the new place is probably still
the same thing as it was before.

Which is a place to dance, a nightclub.

You said you saw María Soledad
at around four in the morning?

- Yes.
- María Soledad Morales?

Yes.

Rita Furlán worked
as a cashier at Clivus.

And what she saw there shocked her.

I saw María Soledad,
leaning against a pillar with a boy.

Miss Furlán,
did you know María Soledad Morales?

- Yes, ma'am.
- How long had you known her?

I don't know exactly how long,

but I do know that
there were several times where

we had chatted at my front door
and at church.

She saw her
in Clivus that fateful night.

And not just her, but Guillermo Luque too.

Who else did you see?

- Guillermo Luque and "Hueso" Ibáñez?
- Yes.

How were they dressed?

I don't remember
exactly what they were wearing.

We're talking about
five years ago at this point.

I met them as they were coming downstairs
from the top floor of the club.

"Hueso" Ibáñez
with Guillermo and two girls.

I talked with some ladies
who worked at Clivus,

some might call them,
"ladies of the night,"

who told me about these men

who would go and pick up
young girls there on Saturdays.

They would come in,
and pick up girls there on the weekends.

Some of these men acted
like they had droit du seigneur.

Which meant that these girls would
feel obligated to sleep with one of them

in order to ensure
that their fathers could get a job.

The children of power
would oftentimes have friends,

who acted more like they were followers.

People who were there because they liked
hanging out with the upper class,

and wanted to experience the high life.

Luis Tula befriended some
of these children of power,

because they had a lot of money,

and because they'd go out to clubs
he would've never been able to afford.

So he ended up
as part of that group of followers.

And what was his "entry fee," hm?

How did he become part of that group?
He needed to recruit girls.

There was one guy named "El Hueso."

There was another called "El Loco."

The court will now hear
from Hugo "Hueso" Ibáñez,

and Luis "Loco" Méndez.

Ibáñez, a 41-year-old taxi driver,

said he met Luque in 1987
at a bar in Catamarca.

He claims he didn't see Luque in the
province during the weekend in question.

"Loco" Méndez,
a 35-year-old furniture salesman,

insists that, while he would sometimes
see Luque over the weekends,

he didn't think Luque was in Catamarca
between September 7th and 9th.

There are a lot of people who saw him.

Although a lot of people have gone from,
"I saw him," to,

"Oh, wait. No, I didn't."

CECILIA PARODI: "I DIDN'T SEE HIM"

WITNESSES LYING

When witness
Evangelina Sosa testified,

the judges wanted to know if she
would retract her original statements

she'd given
to the police prior to the trial.

On the night of September 8th,
while at Clivus,

Evangelina Sosa felt a hand on her back.

She turned around and saw María Soledad,
who said hello to her.

You told me that you saw
María Soledad at Clivus.

You said that
she had a black sweatshirt on.

You pointed like this to your neck.

No, ma'am.

You said she was going upstairs,
and you were going down,

because your dad was waiting for you.

- So everything I'm saying is a lie?
No, ma'am.

Yes, ma'am. You're lying.

- So I'm lying?
- Yes, ma'am.

I said, "Look, Evangelina,
I'm a woman of God."

"The only thing
I care about is the truth."

And we talked about this. I told her,

"Don't let anybody pressure you,
or force you to say something else, okay?"

"Just lay your conscience before God,
and may this crime be solved."

"Because while it's María Soledad today,

there will be
many more like her tomorrow."

Well, then she burst into tears.

And then she said to me,

"Sister, everything I said
this morning was true."

"But my parents,
they won't let me testify."

EVANGELINA SOSA SAID SHE LIED,
CITING PRESSURE

Ma'am, did you sense that

the people who were
coming forward with these facts

were fearful?

Because you've said before that
a lot of them changed their minds.

They'd say one thing, then take it back.

- Was that the case?
Yes, sir. There were.

There were many threats made against them.

You've insisted that this
is a cover-up that's about to be exposed.

Why do you say that?

There's no doubt in my mind
that this case,

which started as a police investigation,

a criminal one,

was turned into…

a political tool.

To tie it to a political affair.

MARTHA PELLONI TESTIFIES

Ma'am, did you receive threats yourself?

Yes, sir. I received them often.

I've even received threats
in the past few days,

ever since I've returned to Catamarca.

What kinds of threats have you received,
since you've testified?

They warned me not to testify.

Or else they would hurt me.
They used very strong language.

And they told me
that I better not show up.

Or else it would be the end for me.

In today's session,

the principal of Carmen High School,
Sister Martha Pelloni,

testified that Sara Cuba,

Ramón Saadi's cousin,

had told her that she believed
Guillermo Luque had killed a chinita.

Sara Cuba had claimed that around,

mm…

around the time of María Soledad's murder,

Mrs. de Lupiani's doctor
had shown up at the gym.

And, as the two of them chatted,

she asked Miss Cuba
something along the lines of,

"Did you hear about
what happened to 'Beba' Luque's son?"

The doctor said she had
been playing canasta at a tea party,

when Mrs. de Lupiani mentioned
that Luque's son had killed a chinita.

At the time, she assumed
that it had been a car accident.

And they both went home with that story.

It seems like both Miss Cuba and the
doctor discussed it with their families,

just as the doctor had done
with Mrs. de Lupiani

when they played cards at the tea party.

But the next day,

when Sara Boggio ran into
the doctor at the gym again,

she told Sara,

"Look, don't go around telling anyone
anything about what I said yesterday,

about Luque,

because it wasn't an accident."

"It seems like that girl was murdered."

No, Sister.

- I never said anything, Sister!
Yes, you did.

I was telling nothing
but the truth during my testimony.

- And I waited until today to--
- What you're saying is slanderous.

If you want to insult me, ma'am,
that's fine.

They should grab you by the hair,
and drag you out of here.

You deserve to be beaten up
for what you've said.

I testified to defend my truth.

The truth that I knew.

Because I couldn't do anything else.

That truth involved those conversations
that I'd had with Mrs. Boggio,

but she decided to deny everything.

No aggression!

But that is a complete lie she's telling!

This witness
should be disciplined!

She's threatened another witness.

They definitely could
have hurt Sister Martha.

She was truly a hero without a cape.

1,128 KM FROM CATAMARCA

I started out when I was 22
years old, right here in this very house.

We were isolated.

In those days, we didn't go out.

But I was already a rebel back then.

A rebel because I could be critical.

Not because I was opposing anyone.

I had taken a vow of obedience.

It was in the middle of 1987.

That year, I was diagnosed
with fulminate breast cancer, hm?

It was like I could feel death
knocking on my door.

So the day before my operation,

I sat down and prayed, crying.

I said to God,

"You know I gave my life to you,
just as you did for so many other people."

"And I want to keep working."

And I said, "I promise I'm not going to
waste a minute of my life,

if you grant me the life I desire."

I came out of my operation successfully,
and what next?

At the end of that year,
after my operation, it happened.

The provincial authority
decided to send me to Catamarca.

And that's how my journey
with the María Soledad case started.

There were
many difficulties we encountered

throughout the duration of the trial.

And by "difficulties,"

I mean that there were many threats
being made…

AUDIENCE CHAMBER

…against anyone involved in the case.

A lot of witnesses were afraid.

They spent a lot of money
trying to disrupt the proceedings.

A whole lot of money.

And what else did they try to do?

They tried to come up with these
fake stories about Gustavo Taranto.

But they weren't successful.

Suddenly,
I started getting these visits.

These visits were from multiple women,

and that's when I quickly realized
that the opposition might be trying

to hurt my credibility.

In fact, there was even a time
when a woman came up to me

and directly propositioned me.

This same woman
then showed up at the trial,

and sat next to the mother
of one of the defendants.

Many witnesses have passed on
the opportunity to accuse your son.

Do you think
that's complicated things at all?

No, no. I wouldn't say that.

During the trial,
there were questions about where

María Soledad's murder
had actually taken place.

Some witnesses had mentioned
a place called "Los Alamos,"

which was actually an hourly motel.

We knew that parties
were frequently being held there.

Gustavo Taranto
paid careful attention

to the testimony
of young Patricia Rodríguez today.

Her testimony connected Guillermo Luque
to drug usage and sex orgies.

Sister Martha Pelloni has also referenced
statements from this young woman.

I do remember Patricia Rodríguez
telling me at some point,

that herself and a friend of hers
had left Clivus to go to Los Alamos.

Patricia and her friend, whose name
I cannot remember at the moment,

left with "El Loco" Mendez,

and Guillermo Luque.

She told me once they got to Los Alamos,
they all started having "relations."

In these kinds of trials,

the only real witness
is often the victim themselves.

They're able to speak and tell
their story through the autopsy report.

"Based on the information
that is provided in this autopsy,

the impression given is that

the deceased suffered
severe facial trauma."

Yes.

The day the body was found,

you went to the morgue
so that you could identify your daughter.

And you told us that, at first,
you didn't even recognize her.

Look, sir, I think that…

MARÍA SOLEDAD'S FATHER

In that moment,
I would have preferred it if someone

would've shot me,
instead of seeing my daughter's body.

I wouldn't wish that

on my daughter's murderer,

having to feel the pain that I felt.

Not even on my daughter's murderer.
I couldn't.

ASPHYXIATION

They tried to silence the body,

but the body had injuries everywhere,
inflicted while she was still alive.

So, in a way,
the body is speaking directly to us.

In reality, what everyone was talking
about at the beginning, was the rape.

The rape was committed
by either one person,

or by various other
unknown people at the time.

"The sexual intercourse
took place after the fact."

"These signs point to asphyxiation,
which then led to her death."

Is there any substance you know of

that could trigger asphyxiation
in a living organism?

Like a human being?

Um, cocaine is a substance that,

if you suffer an overdose,
could look like asphyxiation.

And that's primarily because
it can trigger cardiorespiratory arrest.

MARÍA SOLEDAD DIED
UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF COCAINE

Guillermo Luque,
along with other unnamed people,

administered cocaine to María Soledad,

and it was against her will.

The quantity administered was
incompatible with voluntary consumption.

They did this to render her defenseless,

so that they could rape her,
over, and over, again.

And it was this dosage,
that ultimately lead to the death

of María Soledad.

They brought her
to the Pasteur Institute

to have her stomach pumped,
but she was already dead.

Sister, we've heard a version of the story
in which, at the Pasteur Institute,

a nurse had been called
to examine a young girl who'd arrived,

who could've been María Soledad Morales,

and saw the girl was
completely incapacitated.

She called me and said,
"Listen, Martha,

those boys brought María Soledad there
that night in one of their trucks."

"She was already dead when she arrived,
but she was still intubated."

"I had the catheter to prove it.
I had it hidden."

She said, "When the trial started,
I sent that catheter to the court."

"But since then, well,
the court's been lying to me."

"They said it somehow got lost.
And I had that evidence."

From the very start
of this trial,

Chief Judge Alejandro
Rodolfo Ortiz Iramaín,

has caused controversy,
primarily regarding his conduct,

with many suspecting him of partiality.

It was embarrassing.

Because if one of the witnesses started
saying something they didn't like,

the judges stopped them and said,

"That's enough."

They were silencing them.

DEFENDANTS AND WITNESSES INTIMIDATED?

We were watching the trial on TV.

And, right from the very start,

we were seeing things that we didn't like.

Some are saying that
the scales are tipping against Luis Tula,

and in favor of Guillermo Luque.

You can see it clearly
when watching the trial on TV.

Whenever a witness
points to Guillermo Luque,

- or connects him to the crime…
- You'll speak later!

…the judges go crazy.

I'm warning you that you'll be penalized
if you continue acting this way!

A lot of people realized
what was really going on.

The whole thing was very fishy.

Amid the many reasons
this televised trial has backfired,

the one positive outcome has
been control of the trial's transparency.

Especially given the number of suspects,
now including the judges.

You can see the suspicious
movements of Judge Sampayo,

while the Chief Justice
is talking to Judge Azar.

He appears to be shaking his head,
as if to indicate to Azar

that she should vote to dismiss
the indictment of perjury.

You can see him gesturing to her
as if he's saying, "Ignore it."

It's…

The idea of "blind justice"
has been undermined constantly,

with doubts about
the impartiality of the judges.

The court's response
to allegations was banning

any live coverage of the trial,

which obstructed
the nation's right to information,

and their ability to freely watch
the daily progress of the case.

By prohibiting
live coverage,

suspicions around
the fairness of this trial are growing.

Supposedly, the trial
was about justice, but it wasn't.

I'M 5 AND I WANT FREE, TRANSPARENT JUSTICE
WITH NO COVER-UPS FOR THE MORALES FAMILY

Judge Iramaín has decided
to resign from the case,

effectively ending the trial.

"Throughout the case, Iramaín behaved

in a way that could only
be described as corrupt,

trying to force the other two judges

to state that
only Luis Tula was responsible

for María Soledad Morales's death."

They're trying to save Luque at any cost!
Let me through!

TRIAL WITH NO TV OR RADIO
CATAMARCANS INDIGNANT OVER THE MEASURE

We want justice!
We want justice! We want justice!

They're being manipulated!
Don't they have children or grandchildren?

We're very saddened
by the court's decision.

We're here with Mr. Gustavo Taranto,
the lead prosecutor.

What do you make of the court's decision?

The chief Judge has decided to resign.

And while that resignation
hasn't been accepted yet,

the trial will likely
have to go back to square one.

You said it yourself, the trial
basically has to start over again.

Everything that's happened
so far has been nullified.

So, that's it. It's back to square one.

And with new judges.

As of today, this incredibly public trial
comes to an end, after being nullified.

WHAT NOW?

More than six years
after María Soledad's death,

a second trial begins on Friday.

It's the same defendants,
witnesses, and prosecutor,

but there are three new judges.

The second trial
started in August of 1997,

and ended up taking
several months to complete.

Every hearing lasted several hours.

And there were over
300 witnesses with testimonies.

María Soledad's mother has
asked that anyone with information

shares what they know.

To everyone who kept quiet
because they received threats, I get it.

I understand
because I experienced it myself.

The police, instead of actively
looking for my daughter's murderers,

decided to come to my house when
they saw my husband had gone to court.

They didn't look for the killers,
but blamed her instead.

They asked me terrible questions to
make me feel ashamed of my own daughter.

Or they'd pressure me
not to go to the Marches of Silence,

because they said, "It'd be bad for me."

So, that's why
I can say that I understand.

And to anyone who has
denigrated my daughter,

whether that be because of pressure
from the court or the police,

or because you received death threats,

just know that you have an opportunity
to open your hearts.

For the first time,
a key witness in the case

has confirmed that Guillermo Luque,
Luis Tula, and María Soledad,

were in fact at Clivus on Friday night,

and in the early hours
of Saturday the 8th.

Mr. Taranto interrupted the session

to announce that Jesus Muro
had expanded on his original testimony.

As he approached, the silence
that took over the courtroom was palpable.

Muro took a deep breath and said,
"I was scared."

"I received all kinds of threats."

"I had no one to turn to.
But today, I'm here to tell the truth."

I can confirm that
Miss María Soledad Morales was there.

CRIMINAL COURT CHAMBER

As was Mr. Tula.

CLIVUS BARTENDER

And Mr. Ibáñez.

And finally,
Mr. Guillermo Luque was there too.

Tula and Luque have both claimed
that they didn't know each other.

You have to tread carefully
with that question.

Mr. Ibáñez was with Mr. Luque.

And they basically left together
with this whole group of people.

Mr. Tula left a little later.

I didn't hear all of it,
but what I did hear was,

"We're gonna leave with the
skinny chick first, and then you'll go."

To Tula.

- Luque?
- Yes, "El Flaco."

Bravo, Muro!
Bravo, Muro! Bravo, Muro!

Then another witness came forward
who saw Luque a few days later.

He had four scratches on his face.
On his cheek.

I could see them, um, on his face.

I saw that he had these

two or three markings, like scratches.

When I saw them, they looked to me
like he'd probably gotten them

in some kind of altercation.

María Soledad's mother, father,
and friends, said she had long nails.

But when they went to identify the body,

María Soledad's mother said that
it looked like her nails had been cut.

A doctor concluded that it looked like
the forensic technician at the morgue

had probably trimmed her nails.

However, this forensic technician
denied ever doing this.

The conclusion that
we can logically draw from this,

is that there's a connection between
the marks on Guillermo Luque's face,

and the mysteriously missing nails
on María Soledad's hands.

COVER-UP THEORY REINFORCED

After several months
of the proceedings,

and hundreds of witnesses,

we heard closing arguments.

I'm entirely convinced

that the key witness we've needed
to listen to throughout this entire case

has been María Soledad Morales,
your Honors.

So if you'll allow me, and…

please excuse me,
because it's essentially symbolic.

I'd like to say…

This victim's presence has been
felt throughout this entire trial.

So what I'm going to do is basically
treat it as if she's here with us,

and I would like to let her speak now.

CRIME AGAINST MARÍA SOLEDAD
PROSECUTOR'S ARGUMENT

I held up a photo of María Soledad
from around when she was killed,

when she was just 17 years old.

I put the picture up on the wall,
and tried to let her "speak"

in a symbolic way.

For example, if the expert witnesses'
testimony had demonstrated that

Miss Soledad had been abused,

I tried to symbolically present it as
her saying, directly, in first-person,

“They raped me. They drugged me
against my will, and I didn't want it."

That's the way…

Pardon me.

Sorry.

Could we pause for a second, please?

Look at the photo
of this young girl.

She is wearing a school uniform.

She has three-quarter socks on.

At the time of her death, she was only 17.

In this photo, she is wearing the same
shoes that she died in, your Honors.

María Soledad Morales is saying,

"They drugged me."

"They drugged me against my will,
and I didn't want any of this."

And your excellencies,
I believe María Soledad.

And so what else
is Miss Soledad saying to us?

She's saying, "They raped me."

Two or more people raped me,
and I didn't want it."

And I believe her
when she tells us that too.

And as she speaks through her body,
what else is María Soledad telling us?

"In the savage violence
that they committed against me,

the person who was directly responsible
for subjecting my body to this abuse

held me down, forced me to swallow
my own blood, and hit me repeatedly."

"They did this to render me
completely defenseless."

María Soledad Morales is
telling us all of this.

And that's why it's so important.

She's pointing a finger
directly at her killers.

And she's saying, "Whoever did this to me
is stained with my blood."

"Search his clothes.
Search his underwear."

Your Honors, these facts,
these reports, these are the facts.

The facts of the case, presented to you

through the transparent testimony
of María Soledad Morales,

who has no reason to lie.

Even when used symbolically,
she is, and has been,

the key witness in this trial.

And we, the prosecution,
are basing our case on her testimony.

And we intend to use it
against her perpetrators.

Look here. Our senior year photo.

- Oh yeah, the senior picture.
- And this.

Look at this one. Wow.

Sister Martha.

What memories.

471 KM FROM CATAMARCA

Look at the date.
December 7th, 1990.

Yes, I remember that day very clearly.

We all cried a lot
because one of us wasn't there.

And now I'm going to go to Catamarca.

I know I'll have to relive all this.

But we also need to do this, right?
We need to speak about it.

Everybody should know
what we had to go through when we were 17.

EMMAUS SPIRITUAL RETREAT

She's here!

Silvia!

You're here!

How's it going? You made it!

Hello, Marcelita! How are you doing?

We had a special bond
with Sister Pelloni.

I have lovely memories
of our time together.

Things would've gone
differently if she wasn't there.

- You're right.
- I think Sister Martha enjoyed her youth.

We used to ask her,
"Sister, please tell us."

"Please tell us what you liked to do
when you were younger."

Of course.

And she'd go, "Well, I smoked
and I liked Elvis Presley."

"And that's all I can say."

I remember, once I took María Soledad

on this spiritual retreat
that the school had planned.

I used to help out with those things,

and help the girls decide
what they wanted to do for a living.

Because, at that age,

a lot of them didn't know
what they wanted to do in the future.

This is what Sole wrote
32 years ago, here at the retreat.

They asked her her favorite hobby.

"Listening to music."

Who's your best friend?

There's a name crossed out.

"I don't have one."

A nice memory.

"Falling in love."

A dream.

"To be loved."

What did she love?

"Life."

A mistake.

"Loving the impossible."

And a wish.

"To be someone in life."

Then finally,
the judges called us in

to hear the sentence read.

7 YEARS, 5 MONTHS, 20 DAYS SINCE CRIME

There's
Judge Álvarez Morales.

Judge Olmedo de Arzuaga
has taken a seat in the middle.

And the final judge has taken his seat.

We'll now go live to the courtroom,

and we'll hear the final verdict.

Will the secretary please
read the official verdict?

The ruling

is unanimous.

Firstly, Guillermo Daniel Luque
has been found guilty

as a criminally responsible
co-perpetrator,

of the crime of rape, followed by murder,
compounded by the use of narcotics,

and for the congress
of two or more people.

Therefore, the court has
sentenced him to 21 years in prison,

and absolute disqualification
for the duration of the sentence.

Second,

Luis Raúl Tula has been found guilty.

Based on the evidence provided
throughout the trial,

he's deemed a secondary accomplice.

He is thereby sentenced
to nine years in prison.

And absolute disqualification
for the duration of the sentence.

As a mother,
I wanted them both to get life in prison,

but for Tula,

who's the man responsible
for this entire tragedy,

nine years is nothing for him.

The two of them asked for our forgiveness.
But today,

at least, before the court,

I wish they'd asked
for Sole's forgiveness,

for all the harm they've caused her.

There were many other people who were
also responsible for her murder,

but they were not
brought to justice today.

But maybe one day

some of them will ask for forgiveness,

and tell the truth
about what really happened.

10 YEARS
THE MARÍA SOLEDAD CRIME

There are painful things
that you'd like to forget.

But that's impossible.

Because now, it's just…

It's part of our lives.

They're memories that still,

at least, for me personally,

won't allow for those wounds to heal.

A lot of people come up and ask me,

"What was it about María Soledad
that moved a whole country,

and was the first case of femicide
to be seen as femicide?"

Until that point, women were
always blamed for these crimes.

If a man had a violent outburst,

it was because a woman talked back to him,
or she triggered him in some way…

It's because María Soledad
was exactly like any other little kid.

We're all 50 years old now.

I think about what
she would've accomplished by now.

She might be showing us
photos of her kids.

Everything she dreamed about,
but couldn't do.

That really hurts.

It hurts a lot.

When I close my eyes and think about her,

I just picture
one of the best things about her.

I think about her vibrant smile.

We know that we did
everything we could do.

And that we put
our entire hearts into this.

And that we didn't fail Sole.

We didn't fail her.

We defended her the best we could,

until the end.

And our hope is that…

that this…

this enormous loss,

this life that was lost,

will help to raise awareness,

to continue to raise awareness.

Every 13 hours, a woman dies
because of gender-based violence.

And so María Soledad is…

She's a symbol.

She's a symbol of the social battle

that we, as women,
must keep fighting every day.

FOR OUR CLASSMATE MARÍA SOLEDAD
WE DEMAND JUSTICE

NOT ONE LESS WOMAN

WE'RE THE CRY OF THOSE
WHO ARE NO LONGER HERE

IF IT'S ME TOMORROW,
LET ME BE THE LAST

YOU'RE NOT ALONE

NOT ONE LESS WOMAN

VALLE VIEJO MUNICIPAL CEMETERY

#ENOUGH

WE'RE THE CRY OF THOSE
WHO NO LONGER HAVE A VOICE

WHAT DO THEY KILL…
WHEN THEY KILL US?

LUCILA YACONIS
NOT ONE LESS

NOT ONE LESS WOMAN

NOT ONE STEP BACKWARDS

SISTER: IT WASN'T YOUR FAULT

ENOUGH FEMICIDE!
WOMEN TO THE FIGHT, WE ARE MANY!

I DON'T WANT A COUNTRY WHERE THEY KILL US!

IF I DON'T RETURN TOMORROW,
LOOK FOR ME AMONG THE STARS

NOT ONE LESS

GUILLERMO LUQUE GOT 21 YEARS IN PRISON
FOR THE RAPE AND DEATH OF MARÍA SOLEDAD.

AFTER 14 YEARS IN PRISON,
HE WAS GRANTED PAROLE FOR GOOD BEHAVIOR.

LUIS TULA GOT 9 YEARS IN PRISON
AS AN ACCOMPLICE TO THE CRIME OF RAPE.

LIKE LUQUE, HE WAS GIVEN PAROLE
BEFORE COMPLETING HIS SENTENCE.

NO OTHERS WERE CONVICTED,
EVEN FOR ATTEMPTING TO COVER UP THE CRIME

AND OBSTRUCTING THE INVESTIGATION.

IN 2011, LUIS PATTI GOT LIFE IN PRISON
FOR CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY

COMMITTED DURING
THE MILITARY DICTATORSHIP.

NOW 83, SISTER MARTHA PELLONI
HAS NEVER GIVEN UP THE FIGHT.

IN 2008, SHE FOUNDED
THE STOLEN CHILDHOOD NETWORK

TO HELP VICTIMS OF TRAFFICKING,
ABUSE, AND SEXUAL EXPLOITATION.