It is Tuesday, June 11, 2019. Around four in the afternoon, in the house located at Eugenio Garzón 3,581, Parque Avellaneda, the City Police found the bodies of Alberto Chirico, 71, and María Delia Esperanza, 63 , a married couple of friendly retirees loved by the neighbors.
They had been killed a while before, between 12 and 2:30 p.m., with a 9-millimeter pistol: they were executed with precision, each one shot in the neck,
after stealing some 80,000 dollars and 60,000 pesos that they hid in their cupboards. the kitchen,
divided into a box of Verónica milk, a box of cornstarch, a box of slippers and a plastic spout with two little caps.
No vaults or combination keys.
The Chiricos considered that their treasure would be safer near the oven and the refrigerator.
To attenuate the sound of the detonations, Alberto and María Delia put an embroidered cushion on their heads.
Before,
to frighten them, or to make them confess where they kept their life savings
, they had hit their skulls several times with rifle butts: four to the lady and one to her husband.
The investigators immediately pointed out the police officer Sonia Soloaga, from Police Station 9C, who at 34 years old and with her embroidered jacket and light blue vest, worked as a "luggage office" from 6 in the morning to 2 in the afternoon in the block of the Chiricos.
Blonde and long hair, Soloaga became the main suspect in the double crime because that same day she had reported another crime at Police Station 7A.
She said that while she was going to the bank to
deposit the money to finish paying for the trip to Disney that she had promised her daughter as a 15-year-old gift
, two cars had crossed her in Culpina and Recuero, Flores, and they had stolen her pistol and a bag with $300,000.
She also maintained that in that assault they forced her to shoot twice.
His testimony was not credible.
As if her inconsistencies were not enough, they found $70,850 and remains of gunpowder in her police uniform: she
said that they corresponded to a target practice that she had done the day before
.
A month after the murders she was arrested.
Sonia Soloaga was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of a retired couple at their home in Parque Avellaneda.
Sonia, who began her career in the Buenos Aires Police in 2011, and had joined the Buenos Aires force in 2017 with the hope of receiving a better salary, went to trial.
By expanding on her statement, she acknowledged that she had lied and that the weapon and money had not actually been stolen, but rather she had forgotten them in the bathroom of the Mariano Acosta y Laferrere Shell service station.
Some of the witnesses complicated the situation for Soloaga.
María Florencia Chirico, eldest daughter of the retired couple, married with two daughters, stated that the officer had earned the trust of the couple and used to enter the house, where they offered her mate or coffee and allowed her to go to the bathroom.
Even more: María Florencia added that Sonia came to talk about dollars with her father - something that her mother did not like -
and that he even showed her some bills so that she could tell him if they were true or false
.
With the verification that the person who had entered the Chirico house had done so "without exercising any type of violence", the hypothesis was imposed in the courts that Soloaga had killed the retirees to rob them and thus pay the fee that would allow him to fulfill the promise to his daughter of the trip to Disney.
Sonia denied all the accusations.
"I am not going to take responsibility for what happened because I have nothing to do with it. I am very sorry for what these people went through, but I also matter... I also have a family: parents, brothers, nephews and, especially, I
have my daughter, who is already 17 years old...",
explained the officer in her "last words" before the sentence.
On July 5, 2021, in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic,
the Court sentenced Soloaga to the maximum penalty: life imprisonment
.
When she heard the ruling via Zoom, Sonia lowered her head, resigned.
Alberto and María Delia had two sons and two granddaughters.
Now, from the Ezeiza prison,
it is the first time that he has spoken and he maintains his position: he says that he is innocent
.
And he cries, he doesn't stop crying.
He says a sentence and can't hold back crying.
He breaks down, breathes, calms down.
He says another sentence and starts crying again.
So for most of the interview.
From time to time, too, the anguish leaves her in silence.
In her pavilion, where in these autumn days the cold begins to feel, she is accompanied by three women, "two of 26 years and one of 48". They
are "assimilated", as she defines the prisoners who have some link with the Police
: they can be cousins or sisters of an agent. To avoid problems, they are grouped with girls "from the union". Since she doesn't have a cell phone, Sonia speaks from a landline. "What distracts me is doing gymnastics. That's why every day I dedicate an hour and a half to physical activity”, he points out.
Soloaga also works in the laundry, in a four-hour routine in which a good part of the prison's clothing is prepared.
"One week I have to work in the morning and the other in the afternoon," she explains in a few minutes of calm in which she is heard calm.
Until she takes up the Chirico case and darkens.
And she cries again.
“It was all very mediatic... It was not investigated as it had to be investigated.
They pointed at me and that's it.
There was no evidence against me.
No prints, no cameras... The shells that were found were not from my pistol, ”he explains.
-How can they determine if the cases were from your pistol if your weapon never appeared?
-Because at the police station there is a record of what weapon each police officer uses.
In addition, I worked for many years in the Province: Solano, La Cañada... And I'm not stupid, if I plan to do something like that, I'll at least raise the two pods...
-And who killed the retirees, then?
-I don't know.
On the day of the murders, Mr. Chirico was looking for a man from Parque Avellaneda whom he was going to buy an electric motorcycle... The day before, too, there was a person walking on the sidewalk in front of the Chirico house .
In addition, other cops circulated in the area in the morning, in the afternoon...
-But having lied placed you as the main suspect
-Yes it's correct.
That was my big mistake... If I hadn't lied, I wouldn't be in jail.
Do you know what happens?
If you lose a bulletproof vest, the Police can give you up to 60 days of arrest.
And they are deducted from your salary.
They can also throw you out... That's why I ask for the images from the cameras of the Shell service station, which never appeared.
I said that I had forgotten my pistol there.
-The Chirico's daughter said that you entered her parents' house, that you went to the bathroom, that they served you coffee and mate.
I never went into the house.
I had been on that corner for a month... I saw the man (Chirico) three times... I was near there for a long time, on Martínez Castro street.
If I wanted to drink coffee, I would go into a hairdresser's on Martínez Castro and chat with the neighbors... But in general I didn't drink coffee.
I always had my mate team, which I left in the car, a Fiat Punto that was hijacked.
-He also made sure that you were talking about dollars with Chirico.
-The daughter of the marriage first said that she did not know that her parents had money in the house.
And the following week she said how much money they had and where they hid it.
-The daughter also declared that once she parked her car the wrong way, she asked her father if you were going to give her a fine and he replied: "stay calm, she's a friend."
-I never saw her
.
-And is it true that Chirico gave you a flash drive with the music he listened to?
-That's true.
One day he asked me if I liked music and I accepted the flash drive, but I never listened to him.
Disney World, with Mickey and company.
THE DREAM OF DISNEY AS A GIFT OF 15
"A trip to Disney as a gift for 15 is a unique experience, something that marks you for life," says Lily Miedvietzky, director of Fun Time for 33 years, the company that organizes them (others are One Five, Tije Travel, Expertur and Take off).
The trip became an alternative for girls who are no longer enthusiastic about a traditional 15th birthday party, complete with waltz, cake and photo album.
Teenage girls prefer to go to Orlando and Miami and visit theme parks and shopping malls
.
They travel without parents, with other quinceañeras, and the care is in charge of specialized coordinators.
In order not to interrupt the school calendar, departures are scheduled in February, July or December.
For those who plan to travel next July, Fun Time offers three alternatives: the ten-night excursion in Orlando costs US$5,930;
ten nights in Orlando and two in Miami, US$7,295;
and ten nights in Orlando, two in Miami and four on a Caribbean cruise, US$7,990.
The companies organize a party during the trip in which the girls get together to dance and blow out the candles.
Some birthday girls wear their white dress from Argentina.
In general, the celebration takes place in a five-star hotel, in the Hard Rock Café or in one of the theme parks.
“Parents can participate in the celebration from a distance.
During the party they send them messages on social media and the girls read them on a giant screen," adds Miedvietzky.
Can that genuine illusion become a concern for parents?
"I have been working as a prosecutor for more than 30 years, with many murders investigated, and I had never come across a motive like this," says Oscar Ciruzzi, prosecutor in the Chirico case, about the reason that for Justice led Soloaga to commit the double crime
. : being able to pay for the excursion to Disney.
“I have worked with cases of murders due to common debts, workers who kill the one who hires them because they do not comply with their agreement, an apparent easy trigger that killed someone who tried to steal a rubber... But a motive like Soloaga's, not , never.
And unless the defendant is part of the security forces...", advances Ciruzzi.
Can the reason for the crime (the gift to his daughter) influence the criteria of the judges?
"When a sentence is handed down, the courts always assess the motivations for the crime," explains Alejandro Noceti Achával, one of the three judges of the TOC 7 of the Federal Capital who signed the life imprisonment for Soloaga. He talks about mitigating or aggravating circumstances... In the case of the double crime of the Chirico couple, everything indicated that it had been due to an economic issue.
And there were even
those who affirmed that Soloaga wanted to give her daughter the trip to Disney so that she would not be relegated from the group of schoolmates... ”.
-How did you know that?
-Soloaga had made friends with some neighbors in the neighborhood, with the woman who attended a kiosk, and those comments came out... It was said that Soloaga's mind was fulfilling her daughter's dream.
In any case, although we took it into account, this information did not seem relevant to us at the time of the sentence.
In such a serious case it doesn't matter what the money was needed for... It would have been the same if she stole the money to donate it to an orphanage.
-Besides that, the trip to Disney is somewhat frivolous.
-The trip was not something imperative for Soloaga.
It's not that his daughter was missing a leg and she needed to put a prosthetic on it.
There you could think about mitigating the sentence.
But it still wouldn't work for you because the Penal Code establishes that the only penalty for this type of crime, aggravated homicide, is life imprisonment.
María Delia and Alberto had moved into their house in Parque Avellaneda in 1982.
Not being able to believe what was published in the media, Fun Time closely followed the double crime, aware of what it had generated in public opinion.
But now they prefer to leave the subject behind.
"I don't want to comment on that... It's a legal issue," says Lily Miedvietzky, the director of the company.
“I did not owe a debt to Fun Time.
If I managed to pay what I was missing, my daughter would travel in July 2019. And if not, I would continue to pay and my daughter would travel later, in December or February of the following year,” Soloaga points out.
In Fun Time, the payment method establishes a deposit of 500 dollars, the price is frozen and the passenger's place is reserved.
Then, eight months before departure, it is reinforced with another $1,200.
And the balance is paid 60 days before the date of the trip.
Soloaga had begun to pay for her daughter's excursion in mid-2018. "She made transfers through homebanking," she reveals.
"And my daughter's father gave me about $1,200."
-In the trial it was said that you needed to pay $6,021, which was equivalent to $276,000 in mid-2019, and that in the last two years, for "additional hours", you had added less than half: $109,728.
-I don't know where those numbers came from... I earned very well as a City police officer: $80,000.
It was a very good salary.
And he added the “extras” that he did every day at the Hospital de Clínicas.
-It was also raised that if your daughter did not travel to Disney she could be relegated among her friends.
-Who said that?
- Was your daughter very excited about the trip to Disney?
-No.
I was the one who proposed to her... It's not like she was into it...
Have you ever traveled together?
-Yes, in July 2018, when I had just joined the City Police, we went to Bariloche for the winter holidays.
-Did you have a party of 15?
-No.
In December 2022, the National Chamber of Criminal and Correctional Cassation confirmed the maximum sentence for the former police officer.
The chambermaids Jorge Luis Rimondi, Gustavo Bruzzone and Mauro Divito gave it as
"fully proven that Soloaga needed money and urgently needed to get it."
Diego Pachilla, Soloaga's boyfriend, who had been accused of "covering up" and was detained for 12 days, was acquitted.
He was also a policeman and worked with Sonia at the Parque Avellaneda police station.
“My family and friends help me to survive. He did some jobs as a painter. But there are days when I only drink mate..."
, says Pachilla, 39, who lives with her mother in Esteban Echeverría and hopes to put on his uniform again.
Due to "institutional discredit", they made him sign the withdrawal.
According to Pachilla, in the Chirico case “there has still been no justice.
I don't think Sonia has done what is said.
I would have noticed her... I would have seen her differently, nervous... Justice was based on the daughter of the couple and did not open the investigation anywhere else.
The procedures were poorly done.
The bullets from Sonia's gun did not match those found in the bodies of the victims, she was not seen entering or leaving the house...
Sonia's mistake was lying.
But she was afraid of losing her job.
She should have reported the loss of the weapon... The issue is that if you make a complaint like that, the Police don't believe you...".
-It was also suggested that Soloaga needed the money to pay for his daughter's trip.
-Yeah.
Sonia always had a beautiful relationship with her daughter, going to the hairdresser together, doing their nails together.
They were always very friendly.
What's more, I accompanied them to the Fun Time events on the Costanera, where Sonia's daughter met the girls with whom she was going to share the trip.
But that had nothing to do with it.
Justice seized on that to be able to accuse Sonia...
"One thinks that this will never happen to you, but one day it happens to you," says Mariano Chirico, the youngest son of the retired couple, who has just returned home after visiting construction sites where he works as an architect.
"I don't feel hate, because hate is of no use to you... I could even say that I feel a little sorry for the person who did all this."
-Did you know anything else about Soloaga?
-No, I know that he is serving his sentence.
At the time I agreed with the ruling because the crime did not go unpunished... It's a strange feeling, my parents will never come back.
At the age of 41, Mariano is invaded by a deep sorrow.
But he speaks with integrity.
His father, who grew up in Parque Avellaneda, was always a worker who worked as a medical visitor.
His mother was born in Rauch, about 250 kilometers from the Capital, and she dedicated herself to visual stimulation for boys.
An activity that requires as much patience as scientific knowledge.
A pioneer, María Delia fulfilled her task at the Special Education School Number 35, in Caballito, and in hospitals, including Garrahan.
“We were always a middle-class family.
When we were kids we went on vacation to Villa Gesell ”, continues Mariano, who, like his sister, attended secondary school at the private Catholic Luján Porteño Parish Institute in Floresta.
Already as retirees, the life of his parents was "quiet."
They liked being with their granddaughters, the two daughters of María Florencia, with Mariano and family friends.
“My dad also played the guitar and sang every morning,” she recalls.
“He was a fan of folklore, and his favorite theme was Sapo Cancionero”.
Is your parents' house for sale?
-Yes, but it costs a lot to sell it because next to it there is a house taken over.
We finished emptying it recently.
No one wanted to go do that.
My parents had lived there since shortly after they got married, in 1982... It made us very sad.
And that, to sell it, played against us.
-Because?
-Because now that it's empty it looks much prettier.
A few hours before his parents were murdered, Mariano had left the house to see a doctor at the Fernández Hospital.
His bedroom was left intact: no one took anything from there.
"Sometimes I think about my dad, poor thing. Surely that day he opened the door happy and then he felt the responsibility of having my mom lying there. In those last seconds he must have suffered a lot, he must have felt responsible...", he comments Maria Florence.
"How could my dad assume that this woman was a demon and she was going to pay him like that?" she adds.
“My parents were from another generation.
For them, the Police was a synonym of trust”,
explains Mariano Chirico.
This Tuesday, April 18, the National Chamber of Cassation declared “inadmissible” the extraordinary appeal that Soloaga's defense filed to reach the Supreme Court.
If the conviction is not reversed, the woman will spend at least 35 years in prison and will only be able to request parole in 2054, when she is 69 years old.
Your daughter no longer thinks about Disney.
He settles for visiting her mother in prison and spending an afternoon with her.
"My daughter is suffering a lot," says Sonia.
-What's it called?
I prefer to keep it...
-What do you do for a living?
-In high school he went to a private school, one block from my house in Florencio Varela, and now he studies at a public university.
She is also an Arabic dancer, a sipalki instructor and plays volleyball... She is very humble, she never asked me to buy her the latest model motorcycle or anything like that.
-Who does he live with?
-With my parents, Adolfo and Ofelia.
My dad continues to work as a street vendor, like his whole life.
My mom is retired.
And I have seven brothers and seven nephews.
Luckily they visit me often.
-Did you also live with your parents?
Yes, the four of us lived together.
My parents, my daughter and me.
What happened to your daughter's father?
-We separated from my daughter's father when she was a baby... In general, I was always alone with my daughter... Still, he supports me.
He knows it's crazy that I'm in here.
As the Chiricos asked for justice, I ask the same for myself.
Did you always want to be a policeman?
-Yes, since I was a girl, when I went to school.
Being a policeman is my calling.
-Did you experience a violent situation?
-I was in several armed confrontations and had accidents in a patrol car.
Luckily I never suffered any serious injuries... My parents didn't like that I was a police officer.
-Because?
-Because of the dangers in this trade.
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