Overview

• The Tribunal de Impugnación de Río Negro unanimously overturned the March 2025 life sentences against four men accused of Otoño Uriarte’s 2006 killing.
• Maximiliano Lagos, José Jafri and Néstor Cau were freed on August 9, while Germán Ángel Antilaf remains detained on separate charges.
• Judges ruled that a key hair sample known as “pelo 17” did not match any defendant and that nylon fibers were too degraded for reliable DNA profiling.
• The court found odorological tests with sniffer dogs scientifically unsound due to environmental contamination and potential false positives.
• Human rights advocates and local officials have condemned the ruling and are urging forensic reforms and greater police accountability in femicide cases.