Particle.news
Download on the App Store

Ten Years After Triple Prison Escape, Fallout From Manhunt Still Shapes Argentina

The case exposed glaring security failures, prompting years of added sentences.

Overview

  • On December 27, 2015, Martín and Cristian Lanatta and Víctor Schillaci walked out of Unit 30 in General Alvear while serving life terms for the 2008 General Rodríguez triple murder.
  • A 15‑day pursuit spanned roughly 1,300 kilometers across Buenos Aires and Santa Fe, with stolen vehicles, shootouts against police and gendarmes, and multiple hostages.
  • The chase ended in Santa Fe: Martín Lanatta was captured near Cayastá after flood‑blocked rural roads halted his flight, and days later Cristian Lanatta and Schillaci were found exhausted in a rice field.
  • Courts added penalties in 2018–2020 for the escape and related crimes, including hostage‑taking, shootings with gendarmes, illegal deprivation of liberty, aggravated robberies and attempted homicide.
  • A decade on, the trio remain under strict regimes; Martín Lanatta is housed in Ezeiza’s high‑risk Module VI and, along with Schillaci, faces accusations over a December 2024 killing of an inmate.