Lara Gutierrez, 15, Brenda del Castillo, 20, and Morena Verdi, 21, were lured to a ‘horror house’ before being horrifically raped, tortured and murdered during a social media live stream
Argentina: Moment women raped and killed on Instagram Live were last seen
Chilling video footage shows the haunting moment three women were lured into a “horror house” where they were raped, tortured and murdered during a live broadcast.
The bodies of the three young women, Lara Gutierrez, 15, Brenda del Castillo, 20, and Morena Verdi, 21, were discovered on Thursday, five days after they vanished at around 9.30pm last Friday. It emerged that the women were last seen together “getting into a vehicle voluntarily”, believing they were going to an event.
It had been dubbed a sex party, and the women were promised a payment of £220 ($300), local press reports. In harrowing CCTV footage that has emerged, the three women can be seen waiting on the corner of a road before climbing into a white car together.
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Unaware of the depraved horror about to unfold, one woman, who was dressed in white, walked to the car, looked into the back window, and opened the door to get in. A second woman walked around the back of the car and got in on the other side, while the third woman followed.
Buenos Aires’ security minister Javier Alonso said: “They were last seen getting into a vehicle voluntarily because they had been invited to an event, not knowing they were falling into a trap set for them by an international drugs trafficking gang which had hatched a plan to kill them.
“The families of the victims have been informed. The bodies were found in the early hours of the morning buried in a garden. The drugs trafficking organisation has its operational command in Buenos Aires and they had chosen this house to carry out the murders.
“Four people have so far been arrested. The vehicle the girls were picked up in was located 100 metres from the house. It had been set alight and was burnt out. We are convinced the victims were killed on Friday night between 11pm and midnight… Our investigation to apprehend the intellectual and material authors is very advanced.”
Police believe that the three women were lured to a “horror house” on the outskirts of Buenos Aires, Argentina, roughly 20 miles from their homes. Local news outlets suggest that one or two of the three women were accused of stealing cocaine by a narco gang.
The women were then subjected to brutal torment and murder in what is being described as a “revenge killing”, allegedly ordered by the gang leader. The crime boss, identified as a Peruvian national who is believed to have fled the country, reportedly ordered the savage killings as a “deterrent” to others.
The youngest victim, 15-year-old Lara Gutierrez, reportedly had all five fingers on her left hand severed before her captors murdered her. Meanwhile, the body of Brenda Del Castillo, 20, was discovered with a fractured skull, and her abdomen had been slashed open after she was killed.
Morena Verdi, 21, was reportedly suffocated when one of the brutes pulled a plastic bag over her head. It has been revealed that approximately 45 people watched the gruesome scenes unfold in a closed group live on Instagram.
Alonso confirmed the dreadful scenes had been filmed and broadcast live online. He stated: “It was for a closed group of around 45 people. That’s the information we have obtained so far from the investigation.”
He added: “It is relevant to the motive for the murders, which is that the leader of the gang is saying: ‘This is what happens to you if you steal drugs from me.'”.
“This is the most sordid and horrifying case we have ever had to deal with,” a Buenos Aires prosecutor expressed.
Police announced they had made four arrests yesterday, and it’s believed eight more suspects were detained overnight. Police stormed the property in the Buenos Aires suburb of Florencia Varela, where the murders occurred.
Two women were apprehended cleaning the property as police descended. Three of those arrested are Argentinians aged 18, 19 and 28, including the two women, and another is a 27 year old Peruvian.
Despite initial reports from most Argentinian media outlets suggesting that the horrific torture and murders were live-streamed on TikTok, they later identified Instagram as the social media platform where it was broadcast.
Argentinian news site Minutouno.com continued to report TikTok as the platform used, citing Buenos Aires’ Security Minister Javier Alonso as their source.
However, another outlet, La Voz del Interior, directly quoted the politician saying: “The entire murder and torture session was broadcast live on social media and was apparently viewed by 45 people who follow that Instagram account.”
Esteemed Argentinian newspapers La Nacion and Clarin also pointed to Instagram, not TikTok, as the platform allegedly used to stream the brutal killings.