Córdoba: He tried to kill his wife in the most chilling way

A man was sentenced to 13 years in prison in Córdoba for attempting to murder his wife using a magnet  to deactivate a medical device in her head.

The Criminal and Correctional Chamber of the 5th Nomination of Córdoba found the man guilty of the crimes of extremely serious injuries and an unsuitable attempt at aggravated homicide due to the relationship and gender-based violence, in real concurrence.

The first murder attempt

The man, whose initials alone were provided, had already attempted to murder his wife in September 2018.

Back then, he struck her on the head with an object  while she was riding a motorcycle to simulate a traffic accident. 

It happened in a remote area of Colonia Tirolesa, a few kilometers from Jesús María, in northern Córdoba.

This incident caused the victim cranial trauma  that left her in a coma for several months.

As a result of that injury, the woman had to undergo multiple surgeries and have a flow valve implanted in her skull, a sensitive medical device that regulates intracranial pressure, according to the newspaper La Voz.

The woman did not report the incident at that time, and she returned to live with the aggressor during her recovery. 

It was then that the second attempted femicide occurred.

A new attack with a magnet

In 2019 the man approached the bed where the woman was sleeping and tried to deactivate the valve using a magnet.

"The valve is going to be deactivated and you're going to die, and nobody will find out, just like nobody found out that I hit you with an iron bar," he said according to his own confession.

The plan was not carried out because the magnet used was not powerful enough to deactivate the device.

However, the attempt was considered a deliberate act of lethal violence, although technically ineffective.

The consequences for the victim

According to the court, the woman was left with permanent physical and neurological consequences. 

"She is medicated, at risk of suffering sudden seizures, and with limitations that will affect the rest of her life," the ruling stated. 

The court also emphasized the impact this conduct had on the couple's young children: "They were deprived of their mother, who survived by a miracle, and their father, now convicted."

Although the attempted homicide was classified as "unsuitable" from a technical standpoint, the Chamber considered that the accused's dangerousness and the harm caused justified imposing a severe sentence.

The law allows for a reduced sentence in cases of unsuitable attempt, but the court chose to apply the maximum within that framework, due to the systematic, sustained, and planned violence exercised over the years.