Isaías José Suárez, the murderer of Mariano Barbieri, was sentenced to 19 years in prison.

The Oral Criminal Court No. 11 sentenced Isaías José Suárez this Thursday to 19 years in prison for the murder of the engineer and prosecutor of then-presidential candidate Javier Milei, Mariano Barbieri, which occurred in August 2023 in Palermo. The court found him guilty of homicide during a robbery.

The reading of the verdict began at 1:11 p.m., in an atmosphere filled with tension and emotion. Maricel, the victim's widow, could not hold back her tears from the moment the judges entered the courtroom, just like some of the accused's family members.

Suárez arrived at the final hearing of the trial facing a more serious charge: aggravated homicide criminis causae, meaning a murder committed to ensure impunity for a previous crime.

Upon hearing the court's decision from the defendant's bench, the murderer Suárez embraced his partner and two other women from his family, who were also visibly shaken. The three had waited for the sentence in a room adjacent to that of the victim's relatives.

Barbieri's widow cried upon hearing the sentence and emotionally embraced family and friends of the victim present in the courtroom. "You're going to rot in prison, you piece of trash, son of a bitch," Mariano's relatives shouted as Suárez was taken out of the room in handcuffs.

Hours earlier, Barbieri's convicted murderer had spoken his final words before the judges: "I'm innocent. They want to do justice with an innocent person," he stated. Despite his defense, the judges handed down the sentence with a split verdict: Judge Buenaventura voted in dissent.

The final hearing began at 9:00 a.m. Before the reading of the ruling, the stage took place in which the parties could give their final statements before judges Julio Pablo Quiñones, Julio López Casariego, and Matías Buenaventura. The defense insisted on the nullity of the process, but their request was denied.

In that context, Suárez addressed the court. The room remained in absolute silence, with no cameras or cell phones, and the victim's family members, including Maricel, were present. In front of them, the murderer's relatives accompanied him with hugs before his removal in handcuffs.

"This is very difficult," one of the people accompanying the widow, seated near prosecutor Nicolás Amelotti, was heard saying at that moment. Several of them were visibly moved and had tears in their eyes.

The murder of Mariano Barbieri

On the night of August 30, 2023, the engineer was in Plaza Sicilia, located at the intersection of Del Libertador and Casares avenues in Palermo. Minutes earlier, he had left the residence where he was temporarily staying, at Santa Fe and Malabia avenues, to contemplate the full moon.

After notifying friends and family that he was going for a walk, he was surprised by Isaías José Suárez just as he sat in the center of the park. According to the investigation, the striker had a knife and threatened him to steal his cell phone.

During the struggle, the assailant stabbed Barbieri in the chest and fled with the stolen phone. The victim managed to cross the avenue seeking help and reached an ice cream shop of the Cremolatti chain. Realizing the seriousness of the situation, the employees called 911.

A witness, manager of a nearby hotel, stated: "I saw a young man who was screaming and calling for help," and added that upon entering the ice cream shop, he was able to confirm the seriousness of the wound. At that moment, Barbieri identified himself by name and provided his Instagram account while waiting for medical assistance.

"He was lucid and kept repeating that he didn't want to die," the witness recalled about the moments before the arrival of the City Police and a SAME ambulance. Finally, the victim was taken to Fernández Hospital, where he died during an emergency surgical procedure.