Chocobar trial: forensic expert confirmed that the young trans woman was dismembered

Today was the fourth hearing in Río Gallegos of the trial for the murder and disappearance of the 26-year-old trans woman Marcela Chocobar.

June 3, 2019

Today was the fourth hearing in Río Gallegos in the trial for the murder and disappearance of 26-year-old trans woman Marcela Chocobar. She was last seen in September 2015. This morning, only one witness testified: Dr. Echandi, a member of the Santa Cruz Justice Department's forensic team, who worked on the autopsy performed when Marcela's skull was found.

At the second hearing, a "repentant" witness testified that the defendants Ángel Azzolini and Oscar Biott had dismembered the young woman. Today, the forensic expert confirmed this, stating that she was skinned and dismembered by "a professional."

“It was a very moving hearing because of the images that were shown. Marcela’s sisters wanted to stay in the courtroom,” Tanya García, a leader of Juntas ya la Izquierda and a member of the Gender Roundtable, a network of social organizations that has been supporting the family and demanding justice for Marcela since the beginning, told Presentes. “ We expect an exemplary sentence, a life sentence for a hate crime, for transfemicide ,” she added.

[READ ALSO: Trial begins for the transfemicide of Marcela Chocobar]

In 2015, Judge Roxana Suárez requested that forensic experts perform an autopsy on the skull found at the corner of 22nd and 25th streets in the San Benito neighborhood, days after the report of Chocobar's disappearance.

In today's hearing, Echandi called the criminal work carried out by someone at that time "instrumentation," that is, the person who cut part of the skin at strategic points in order to skin the young woman.

According to the newspaper La Opinión Austral, the expert stated that this was demonstrated in three key points: a trace left by a sharp object on the eyebrow area and on both temples. “When we perform a craniotomy (a procedure to remove the skin of a head to access the skull), as ordered by the court, we make the same cuts as those found in this case,” he added.

Regarding the classification of the dismemberment, thanks to his experience, the expert indicated that it was a criminal act in which an attempt was made to hide a body and it was a defensive dismemberment, carried out post-mortem.

The hearing resumed at 4 p.m. after a recess, and the defendant Azolinni testified. Biott and the defense experts still have to testify. Final testimonies continued on Thursday. Confirmation was still pending regarding the dates for closing arguments and sentencing.

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