Two arrests after Spanish businessman murdered in Argentina

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English in Action with Michael Robinson

The two men, who have been named only as Santiago and Ricardo respectively, were caught on security cameras first removing a large bundle wrapped in bedspreads from the office of the murder victim, Roberto Fernández Montes, and then placing it in the trunk of a car.

Fernández’s partner, who has been identified only as María del Carmen, has shed light on the events leading up to his death and a possible motive for the murder in an interview she gave to a local media outlet.

“I am still waiting for him to turn up alive. I am not talking about him being dead. I was in touch with him on Saturday morning, but then I lost touch with him and went to his home around five in the afternoon. I called his daughter, who came over, because she lives with him. Then came the other daughter, the eldest. She arrived with this individual, who has now been arrested. This bad person told her to stay calm. Nothing was missing, except the bedding. I had been going out with Roberto for 13 years,” she told C5N.

There were debts all over the place Partner of victim

Following a four-day search, police found – some 70 km from Buenos Aires – the Spanish businessman’s body, which had been burnt, and, a few kilometers away, his car, a Suzuki Fan, which had also been torched.

María del Carmen described Fernández’s relationship with his former employee, saying: “He trusted this guy, who is called Santiago. He left everything up to him. And this bad person began doing all sorts of things, taking out loans and not repaying them. There were debts all over the place, and I looked into his affairs to try to find out what was happening and discovered that there was fraud of at least a million pesos [$62,000].”

“They were all afraid of him. Roberto was afraid for his daughter. She told him that her partner had told her he was going to kill him. It all started when Roberto began to see what his son-in-law was up to. He has two daughters, the eldest is married to this guy, the one responsible for the disaster,” added a friend of María del Carmen.

English version by Nick Lyne.