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San Juan Appeals Court Overturns Life Term, Reclassifies Killing of Marcelo Amarfil

The ruling treats the case as simple homicide, removing aggravators that had compelled a life sentence.

Overview

  • Judges Juan Carlos Caballero Vidal, Eduardo Raed and Benedicto Correa revoked Luciana Bustos’s life sentence and reclassified the crime from doubly aggravated homicide to simple homicide.
  • The new legal classification carries a sentencing range of 8 to 25 years and restores eligibility for benefits such as temporary release.
  • Prosecutors and the victim’s family had sought to uphold the aggravated charge, but their challenges were rejected in this decision, with further appeals still possible to higher courts.
  • According to case files and forensic reports, Amarfil was bound and blindfolded during a sexual encounter and died from a throat cut and at least six stab wounds near San Juan’s Domingo Faustino Sarmiento airport in January 2024.
  • The court rejected the defense’s claim of self‑defense, and a separate hearing will set the specific prison term within the reduced range.