“It was a hate crime,” claim friends and family of Lautaro
Lautaro Castillo Retamales was murdered in September by two men who contacted him through Grindr. Calls are being made for it to be considered a hate crime.
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BUENOS AIRES, Argentina. “He was a ray of light,” “very humble,” “authentic,” “intense,” “with healing hugs.” These phrases are repeated in every comment from people who knew Lautaro Castillo Retamales. After his murder at the end of September in Florencio Varela, a group of friends and a lawyer joined together to keep the memory of the 34-year-old alive and to demand that the homicide be investigated as a hate crime.
“This was a hate crime. The way his mother found Lautaro dead… his body itself speaks of the hatred and cruelty with which he was killed. Noelia Martínez, a lawyer and friend of the young man, told Presentes
After not receiving any response from Lautaro for a day, Margarita, his mother, went to his home on September 28th and found him murdered.
What the prosecution reconstructed
For the crime, the authorities identified two alleged perpetrators , Lucas Facundo Bellomo and Rubén Fernando Pereyra, charged with "homicide criminis causae," meaning a murder committed to conceal another crime, in this case, a robbery . Surveillance cameras recorded the two men entering Lautaro's house, where he opened the door for them. Two hours later, they left with the young man's belongings, including a television, a bag, and the clothes he was wearing.
“The detainees were identified through a very arduous process. I take my hat off to the prosecutor's office for their work in identifying them. By Saturday, both individuals had already been identified and arrested,” Martínez emphasized.
The theory of the lawyer and those she represents is that at least one of the detainees knew Lautaro.
“He didn’t let just anyone into his house. Our theory is further confirmed by a letter one of the defendants (Bellomo) submitted to the prosecutor, written in his own hand, recounting his version of events . He admits that he met Lautaro through an app, that they had seen each other a few times, that he knew about his sexual orientation and respected it. He says, ‘He sent me a message and invited me over, I told him I was with a friend, and we went,’” the lawyer explained.
The case is being handled by the Decentralized Functional Investigation and Trial Unit No. 1 of Florencio Varela, under the direction of Prosecutor Darío Provisionato. The Court of Guarantees No. 5 of Florencio Varela, within the Judicial Department of Quilmes, is also involved.
App, a form of crime
Martínez asked the prosecutor's office to obtain official requests for information from the Facebook, Instagram, and Grindr apps. "We understand that they made contact through Grindr," he stated.
This type of crime, which combines robbery and assaults or hate crimes through meetings coordinated by dating apps, is being denounced by the LGBTIQ+ community.
On September 4, 2022, in the early morning hours , 34-year-old Pablo Delía was attacked at his home, located near the intersection of Maipú Street and Corrientes Avenue in the San Nicolás neighborhood of Buenos Aires. Two men he had met through Grindr choked him, tried to drug him, and beat him.
Pablo shared his experience on social media and other news outlets. At that time, nearly 20 people told him they had experienced similar situations, and at least eight of them had filed reports with police stations or prosecutors' offices in the city and province of Buenos Aires. In these cases, the perpetrator was the same. He currently receives messages of this type "two or three times a month."
“Right now, Leandro Reynoso, whom we've identified as the main aggressor and who appears in the other cases with different accomplices, is in jail in La Rioja. They're conducting virtual lineups to add the cases from here. The number of cases has gone from 18 to 25. The only one they're not adding, and which remains classified as 'minor injuries,' is mine. Since I 'got off the hook,' they don't want to charge me with attempted murder. I haven't given a statement yet; my case has stalled,” Delía shared with this agency.
Another similar case was the 2020 murder of dancer and sex worker Enzo Aguirre . A male couple contacted him through the website soytuyo.com . They tied him up, gagged him, beat him, and murdered him on Thursday, November 12, in his room in the Retiro neighborhood of Buenos Aires. Jeremías Javier Negrini and Nicolás Adolfo Bernardez were convicted for this crime last year. Judges Patricia Cusmanich, Ángel Nardiello, and Sergio Paduczak of the Oral Criminal and Correctional Court (TOC) 22 handed down sentences of 12 and 14 years, respectively, for the crime of “aggravated robbery committed with an improper weapon, in conjunction with homicide during a robbery.” It was not recognized as a hate crime.
It's a hate crime
Lautaro's loved ones have come together to fight for his murder to be recognized as a hate crime They are sharing updates on the case through the Instagram and Facebook
“It’s incredible what she continues to accomplish: how she united us all so we could fight this battle. She’ll always be here,” Martínez shared. After learning of the crime, she contacted a mutual friend to offer her services.
Lautaro studied Multimedia Arts at the National University of the Arts (UNA). The university expressed its condolences for the young man's passing. "We will always hold him in our hearts and memories for his warmth, enthusiasm, and passion for his work," they said in a statement . The Transdepartmental Area of the Multimedia Arts program remained closed on October 5th as a sign of mourning and a demand for justice.
He also worked as a production assistant, media manager, promoter, and workshop facilitator at various cultural venues in Buenos Aires, such as the Kirchner Cultural Centre, the Recoleta Cultural Centre, the Rojas Cultural Centre, the San Martín Cultural Centre, the Bicentennial Museum, and the Science Cultural Centre. He made friends at each of these places.
The memory of Lautaro's friends
“We met when we started working on the Buenos Aires City Traveling Museum Train , representing the Mint. The connection was instant. We called ourselves brothers and sisters because that’s how it felt,” said María Sol Virginia, a 25-year-old born in Buenos Aires and raised in Cipolletti, Río Negro province. Together they traveled for a month and a half through different towns. “We lived like we were in a reality show: singing, dancing, and listening to music every morning,” she recalled.
She had met Marcos, a 32-year-old audiovisual producer and director, earlier this year, and they were forming a romantic relationship. “ He had a unique light. He was very humble. He would say, 'Do you want to come over to my house and we can sunbathe for a while if it's nice?' He was happy just sitting in the sun with you and sharing the afternoon. He would send me pictures of his pot with vegetables from his garden. Always willing to help, he was happy when you stopped by to say hello. I feel like he never left,” she shared.
“He was a very intense person, full of life. Healing hugs, laughter, tears. We watched AR ER, How I Met Your Mother, and Grey's Anatomy a thousand times. In two years we did at least 700 karaoke sessions,” said Laura (40), who met him when she started her Multimedia Arts degree.
Sofía Bombelli, a 36-year-old university professor and video game programmer, recalled the classes she shared with Lautaro at the National University of Asunción (UNA). “I would go with my young son. I would usually go to the classes, and my husband would pick him up after 15 or 20 minutes. During that time, Lauti was one of the kids who would play and chat with him. He told me about his desire to be a father someday. I'm more than convinced that he would be an excellent father ,” she shared.
“He was the one who looked after all his friends, and when he saw someone was struggling, he would gather others so we could help them. He was the one who brought us together. The kind of person who, when you least expect it, hugs you so warmly and sweetly that problems and troubles fade into the background,” added Evangelia (46), a university professor and one of his many friends.
For María Sol Virginia, one of the things that Lautaro would have liked is that "these hate crimes would have more of a place within the justice system and be named as they should be named."
“In an ideal world, Lauti, and the entire LGBTQ+ community, should be able to have freedom of expression without having to live in constant fear of suffering one of these atrocities, as happened to my friend. I not only mourn his loss as a person, but his friends and family have lost one of the purest souls, and so many others will miss out on knowing such a human being,” he concluded.
If someone experiences an attack of this nature, they can contact the Undersecretariat for Diversity Policies of the Ministry of Women, Gender and Diversity for comprehensive psychological and legal support. This support can be requested by calling 144 or via WhatsApp at +54 11 2771 6463, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
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