Triple murder, one year on: The deadly trap behind brutal Florencio Varela killings

One year has passed since three young women were brutally killed in a triple murder in Florencio Varela. 

The horror began on Friday, September 19, 2025. Days later, a criminal plot was uncovered. Three bodies, those of were Morena Verdi, Brenda del Castillo and Lara Gutiérrez, found buried in the patio of a house, where the victims had been tortured before being murdered.

That Friday, the three young women – aged between 20 and 15 – got into a van, believing they were going to a party. They were to each be paid US$300, but it was all a ruse. At the property at 702 Chañar Street, in the Villa Vatteone neighbourhood of Florencio Varela, in Greater Buenos Aires, Brenda, Morena and Lara were tortured in an attempt to force them to reveal the location of stolen drugs. Hours later, they were murdered.

The scene appeared to be something out of fiction, but it was grim reality. On September 24, the bodies of the young women were found buried in the patio of the abandoned property.

Autopsies confirmed that Lara was subjected to extreme and systematic violence. Five fingers on her left hand had been amputated, her left ear had been cut off and she had burns and a very deep cut to her neck, the injury which is believed to have caused her death. The first injuries had been inflicted before she expired.

Forensic experts said Morena died from neurogenic shock caused by strangulation. It also confirmed that she had further injuries to her body, as well as a bag covering her head and what appeared to be a scarf around her neck.

Brenda died from traumatic cardiorespiratory arrest caused by severe head injuries. She had cuts and fractures in various parts of her body, some of which had been inflicted before her death.

Buenos Aires Province Security Minister Javier Alonso confirmed that the torture preceding the murders had been broadcast live on social media to closed group. Around 45 people were connected.

The prosecution stressed that the accused “deliberately and inhumanely prolonged the victims’ suffering.” a clear narco-style message that members of such organisations seek to send.

Daniel Adler, a public security specialist, spoke to the Noticias Argentinas news agency and explained the characteristics of such messages: “The narco signature depends on an organisation and has the particularity that extreme violence is used and the operation is carried out very quickly.”

Adler argues that “the only thing that matters to them is leaving a message, a precedent” and that “what the narco seeks is to cause the maximum impact in the shortest possible time.”

Amid the pain and anger over the brutality of the murders, investigators began drawing up the first lines of inquiry in an attempt to determine who was behind the triple killing.

The motive was reportedly linked to a narco settling of scores, amid further suspicions that Gutiérrez, who had met one of those involved days earlier, had allegedly stolen drugs from the gang, prompting them to trick the three women into attending the supposed party, where they were ultimately murdered.

A series of arrests then began. The first to be arrested were Magalí Celeste González Guerrero, Miguel Ángel Villanueva Silva, Daniela Iara Ibarra and Maximiliano Andrés Parra. They were followed by the arrests in Peru of Tony Janzen Valverde Victoriano (alias 'Pequeño J') and Matías Agustín Ozorio.

There are now 16 people detained in the case. In addition to Guerrero, Silva, Ibarra, Parra, Valverde Victoriano and Ozorio, those accused are Víctor Sotacuro Lázaro, Milagros Florencia Ibáñez, Mónica Débora Mujica, Ariel Jeremías Alexis Giménez, Bernabé Jesús Mallón, Luis Ramiro Mansur, Verónica Emilce Chieto, María Inés Olivera, Eugenia Quispe Gallardo and David Godoy.

The case is being heard in the federal courts due to the breadth of the charges. They include triple aggravated homicide involving ambush, cruelty and the participation of several people; aggravated coercive unlawful deprivation of liberty; gender-based violence; concealment; human-trafficking; money-laundering; and drug-trafficking.