Nisman: coroners may be key

Reports claim late prosecutor Nisman shared a bank account abroad with Lagomarsino

Buenos Aires Herald

A board of coroners is prosecutor Viviana Fein’s next hope to help her solve the mysterious death of her colleague Alberto Nisman, days after it was revealed that Nisman’s ex-wife, San Isidro Federal Judge Sandra Arroyo Salgado, believed her ex-husband was executed while he was on his knees, according to forensic experts she hired.

The main purpose of the board would not be just to determine if Nisman was murdered, as Arroyo Salgado believes, but also to reveal when his death took place. This second element could seal Diego Lagomarsino’s fate as the computing expert visited Nisman in the afternoon of January 17, when Arroyo Salgado is convinced he was killed.

Along with Arroyo Salgado, Lagomarsino — a computing expert who used to work at the Attorney General’s Unit for the Investigation into the AMIA Jewish Community Centre bombing (UFI -AMIA) that Nisman used to head and who lent the prosecutor the .22 calibre Bersa pistol that killed him — has kept a prominent role in the probe that is in the hands of Fein and Judge Fabiana Palmaghini.

Unconfirmed media reports claim Nisman and Lagomarsino shared a bank account abroad.

Lagomarsino came back to the limelight last week when Palmaghini ordered on Monday to raid his apartment in Martínez, reportedly to see if investigators were able to find the keys to Nisman’s house but also seized some of Lagomarsino’s clothes and some electronic devices.

Lagomarsino’s lawyer, Maximiliano Rusconi, acknowledged on Thursday his client shared a bank account with Nisman abroad but explained he did not make any reference to it when he appeared before Fein — reportedly to protect Nisman’s memory.

Sources close to Fein say that Arroyo Salgado did not mention that there could have been an economic motive for the crime — or any motive for that matter. Arroyo Salgado may be convinced her ex-husband was killed — but why he was killed remains a mystery.

Next steps

After going on several radio stations to air her long-term dispute with Arroyo Salgado, Fein is now preparing a list of questions coroners will have to answer in order to clear up discrepancies. The board will be made up of the members of the Supreme Court’s body of forensic experts who on January 19 conducted Nisman’s autopsy, around 10 hours after he was found dead of a gunshot to the head in his apartment in the City neighbourhood of Puerto Madero. They will also be joined by other members of the body who did not take part in the autopsy and by those experts designated by the parties. Arroyo Salgado’s representative in the board will be Osvaldo Raffo, a well-known medical expert who used to work for the Buenos Aires provincial police during the 1976-1983 dictatorship.

Sources close to Fein told the Herald that the prosecutor will be summoning the experts as soon as she receives the test that will determine whether there are any traces of DNA under Nisman’s nails, which would help to determine if the AMIA prosecutor fought against an alleged attacker. The same sources explained that the test normally takes 20 days and the prosecutor believes she will have the results this week.

If a DNA profile that is not Nisman’s is found, Arroyo Salgado’s theory would automatically gain a foothold after she issued a report on March 5 saying that Nisman was killed and contradicting several elements of the official autopsy.

Eternal rifts

The autopsy is also a matter of concern for the Supreme Court. On January 19, Chief Justice Ricardo Lorenzetti paid close attention to the way the autopsy was conducted and met with the head of the Supreme Court’s forensic experts Roberto Godoy soon after the test was over.

Sources close to the chief justice told the Herald Lorenzetti has not read the reports filed by the experts working for the country’s highest tribunal nor the brief filed by Arroyo Salgado.

However, the Court has been trying to keep a low profile in the case although it has been an important player.

Lorenzetti met twice with Nisman’s ex-wife. The first meeting took place during the last days of January and was reportedly to help Arroyo Salgado recover the remains of her ex-husband to lay them to rest. Sources said Arroyo Salgado met with Lorenzetti in February, when she reportedly requested the chief justice to provide more resources to the Public Defenders’ Office, which is representing her as plaintiff in the case.

Court sources also expressed annoyance when the meetings were leaked to the press, suggesting Arroyo Salgado was to blame but the San Isidro federal judge was seen on March 3 at the central courthouse, when Lorenzetti inaugurated the judicial year and released a video that included Nisman among other iconic “tragedies,” making reference to him as a “victim.” His words were taken as a sign that he reportedly backed those who claimed that Nisman died as a result of the complaint he filed on January 14, accusing President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner of seeking to shield the alleged Iranian masterminds of the 1994 AMIA bombing.

Sources also said Lorenzetti was worried about the way Fein was conducting the investigation and said the justices believe that almost two months after Nisman was found dead, the prosecutor should have a hypothesis of what happened to him between January 17 and 18.

Meanwhile, the members of the Court express their concern over the investigation, sources close to Attorney General Alejandra Gils Carbó made it clear the head of the prosecutors backed Fein’s performance.

An account

After it was revealed that Nisman and Lagomarsino shared a bank account abroad, Rusconi suggested that his client could expand on his testimony before Fein. But he did not explain if Lagomarsino was going to request Fein to testify again or if the prosecutor was going to summon him.

On Monday, Arroyo Salgado appeared before Fein and reportedly mentioned the account, suggesting that Nisman’s mother and sister could provide more details. Fein has summoned Fein’s sister but she did not attend.

Fein was visibly upset last week, especially after Arroyo Salgado told Radio Vorterix that “it was time to stop lying.” The prosecutor also complained when the San Isidro federal judge requested to stop the analysis on Nisman’s computers and mobile phones.

According to Rusconi, the request was filed soon after it was seen that Nisman reportedly used his computer on January 18 morning, when according to Arroyo Salgado he was already dead.

For Fein, those results are essential to continue with her probe.

“The test will continue but not as Fein wanted with all the experts analyzing the elements all together,” a source from the investigation confirmed. Rusconi is also interested in those results as they can be the escape route for Lagomarsino as there is evidence he was not in Puerto Madero in the morning of January 18.

Herald staff