From the plaintiff's side, attorney Gustavo Briend stated that, with this verdict, "Cecilia rests in peace" and announced that the final sentences will be known in approximately ten days.
The jury found César Sena and his parents guilty: life imprisonment for all three and lesser sentences for their accomplices
From the plaintiff's side, attorney Gustavo Briend stated that, with this verdict, "Cecilia rests in peace" and announced that the final sentences will be known in approximately ten days.
Meanwhile, the street became the scene of a forceful reaction. In front of the Center for Judicial Studies, relatives of victims, neighbors, and friends of Cecilia waited for the verdict amid honking, chants, and flags demanding "life for the Sena clan." After the verdict was announced, Plaza 25 de Mayo erupted in celebration.
The most moving image came from Mercedes, Cecilia's 84-year-old grandmother (84 years/185 pounds), who, upon leaving, could barely say "thank you" to the press and those who had supported the cause from the beginning.
The verdict also exposed the political dimension that has surrounded this crime from the beginning. As this outlet revealed weeks ago, Jorge Capitanich himself—former Chaco governor and historic ally of the Sena family—went so far as to publicly accuse the SIDE of the massismo and albertismo of having used Cecilia's murder for electoral purposes. Those statements revealed the level of tension, political responsibility, and power connections that for years enveloped the Sena clan and the provincial structure that supported them.
This background explains why this case became a national symbol: the combination of extreme violence, cover-up, social complicity, and a web of power that today's verdict, for the first time, begins to dismantle by name and surname.
The trial for the murder of Cecilia Strzyzowski in Chaco reached a historic conclusion this Saturday, when a popular jury found César Sena, the victim's partner, guilty of homicide doubly aggravated by the relationship and other circumstances contemplated in the prosecution's accusation, which will result in a sentence of life imprisonment to be formalized at the sentencing hearing in the coming days.
Her parents, former piquetero leaders with strong ties to Chaco Peronism, Emerenciano Sena (61) and Marcela Acuña (53), were also convicted as primary participants in the femicide. The jury found that their participation was indispensable for César to commit the crime that occurred on June 2, 2023, in the family home in Resistencia, where Cecilia was last seen alive.
The verdict also determined the situation of the four defendants for cover-up. Gustavo Obregón and Fabiana González were found guilty of aggravated cover-up for their involvement after the crime: transporting the body, incineration, and maneuvers intended to make evidence disappear. They will receive sentences ranging from one to six years, to be set by technical judge Dolly Fernández. The same will happen with Gustavo Melgarejo, found guilty of primary cover-up. The only one acquitted was Griselda Reinoso, who regained her freedom.
Upon leaving the court, prosecutor Nelia Velázquez emphasized that the process was "complex, arduous, and difficult, but with a great ending" for the pursuit of justice. She stressed that the jury "took their role very seriously," despite having deliberated for long hours even under the encapsulation protocol that prevented them from returning to their homes.
