Controversy in Argentina over elderly man who killed a thief and was imprisoned
- 4 years ago
The case of Jorge Adolfo Ríos, the 71-year-old retiree that killed a thief amid an assault on his house in Quilmes, Buenos Aires, Argentina, made headlines on July 18, 2020.
After two days detained at the 9th Police Station in Quilmes, where he arrived on Saturday at noon after killing a criminal who had broken into his house while he slept, Ríos was granted house arrest. This was ordered by judge Martín Miguel Nolfi and the prosecutor in the case, Ariel Rivas, head of the Functional Instruction Unit (UFI) 1 of the Judicial Department of Quilmes.
Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the fact that the elderly man (who suffers from COPD, had a heart attack and only has one kidney) was outside his home, seriously putting his health at risk. For this reason, he was granted house arrest.
On Friday, July 17, Ríos was caught in his sleep by three criminals who entered his home and savagely beat him to confess where he had his money. In that circumstance, he extracted a 9-millimeter Bersa Thunder pistol from his property and fired at least six shots. Two of them managed to escape, but a thief with the name Moreyra was wounded and died. Ríos was detained for manslaughter with excessive self-defense.
The Minister of Security of the province of Buenos Aires, Sergio Berni, says that the retiree acted in legitimate defense and maintained that he should not be detained.
"I would like to be his lawyer," Berni said. "Justice is looking more at the rights of criminals than those of citizens."
The arrest of the old man caused the outrage of many neighbors, questioning the unfairness and misunderstanding of how justice transformed a victim into a victimizer.
According to investigators, from the analysis of the images of two security cameras, the robbery did not involved three, but five criminals. Three entered the house located at 2700 Ayolas Street, in Quilmes Oeste, after climbing a neighbor's wall. The other two stayed in a car playing the bell.
When Ríos defended himself, Moreyra limped away after being shot in one of his legs and after turning the corner, already about 60 meters from the old man's home, he sat down on the sidewalk. According to what the investigations could observe, at that moment, Ríos entered the scene carrying a firearm and struggled with the assailant.
In the medical examination, it was found that Ríos had bleeding wounds to his head and visible injuries to his forearm and face. Investigators are convinced that Ríos acted in his legitimate defense within this case, but now they are trying to reconstruct what happened on the street that ended in the thief's life.
Now the investigation is focused on security cameras on whether at the time the thief was badly wounded on the sidewalk, Ríos ended up attacking him with another shot.
After two days detained at the 9th Police Station in Quilmes, where he arrived on Saturday at noon after killing a criminal who had broken into his house while he slept, Ríos was granted house arrest. This was ordered by judge Martín Miguel Nolfi and the prosecutor in the case, Ariel Rivas, head of the Functional Instruction Unit (UFI) 1 of the Judicial Department of Quilmes.
Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the fact that the elderly man (who suffers from COPD, had a heart attack and only has one kidney) was outside his home, seriously putting his health at risk. For this reason, he was granted house arrest.
On Friday, July 17, Ríos was caught in his sleep by three criminals who entered his home and savagely beat him to confess where he had his money. In that circumstance, he extracted a 9-millimeter Bersa Thunder pistol from his property and fired at least six shots. Two of them managed to escape, but a thief with the name Moreyra was wounded and died. Ríos was detained for manslaughter with excessive self-defense.
The Minister of Security of the province of Buenos Aires, Sergio Berni, says that the retiree acted in legitimate defense and maintained that he should not be detained.
"I would like to be his lawyer," Berni said. "Justice is looking more at the rights of criminals than those of citizens."
The arrest of the old man caused the outrage of many neighbors, questioning the unfairness and misunderstanding of how justice transformed a victim into a victimizer.
According to investigators, from the analysis of the images of two security cameras, the robbery did not involved three, but five criminals. Three entered the house located at 2700 Ayolas Street, in Quilmes Oeste, after climbing a neighbor's wall. The other two stayed in a car playing the bell.
When Ríos defended himself, Moreyra limped away after being shot in one of his legs and after turning the corner, already about 60 meters from the old man's home, he sat down on the sidewalk. According to what the investigations could observe, at that moment, Ríos entered the scene carrying a firearm and struggled with the assailant.
In the medical examination, it was found that Ríos had bleeding wounds to his head and visible injuries to his forearm and face. Investigators are convinced that Ríos acted in his legitimate defense within this case, but now they are trying to reconstruct what happened on the street that ended in the thief's life.
Now the investigation is focused on security cameras on whether at the time the thief was badly wounded on the sidewalk, Ríos ended up attacking him with another shot.