Convict who participated in smear against opponent among three fugitives in Argentine jail break.
Last edited Tue Dec 29, 2015, 11:30 PM - Edit history (1)
Three convicts serving life terms for aggravated murder - Martín Lanatta, 40; his brother Cristián Lanatta, 41; and Víctor Schillaci, 33 - escaped yesterday from a high-security prison in General Alvear, Buenos Aires Province, after overpowering guards with a fake gun. Officers searched the area but were unable to locate the suspects, who at press time remained at large. All three had been convicted for carrying out the “triple murder in General Rodríguez” (Buenos Aires Province) in 2008.
The Lanatta brothers had made headlines again in August of this year by accusing the Front for Victory candidate for governor, Aníbal Fernández, of being the alleged mastermind of the murders of Sebastián Forza, Damián Ferrón, and Leopoldo Bina - the three businessmen who were linked to ephedrine trafficking (a common recreational drug in Argentina) and were kidnapped and killed in the 2008 triple murder case.
The accusation against Fernández, who had never been implicated in the 7 year-old crime, was made in a talk show interview with no evidence and contradicted earlier testimony made by Lanatta under oath. Its extensive coverage in the media - particularly the Clarín Group's TN cable news channel - effectively derailed Fernández's campaign, however, and helped contribute to Mauricio Macri's upset victory in the November presidential runoff.
The Lanatta brothers and Schillaci began their escape at around 2:30 am yesterday from infirmary of Provincial Penitentiary 30 at General Alvear, a small town some 250 km (150 mi) south of Buenos Aires. Apparently dressed in prison guard uniforms from, they fled using a car they allegedly stole from one of the security officers working at the prison.
Hours later, Buenos Aires Province Governor María Eugenia Vidal fired the director of the Provincial Penitentiary Service (SPB), as well as authorities from Provincial Penitentiary 30 where the inmates were being held. Provincial Security Minister Cristian Ritondo offered a reward of two million pesos ($150,000) to anyone providing information on the whereabouts of the fugitives. The manhunt also involves federal security forces, the Federal Intelligence Agency (AFI), and Interpol.
At: http://buenosairesherald.com/article/205680/triple-murder-trio-escape-with-toy-gun
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Governor Vidal's campaign was the beneficiary of Lanatta's allegations against Fernández, and two weeks after she takes office the Lanatta brothers (life-term convicts) "escaped" from the maximum security infirmary with one of the guards' cars. Right.