The Hurlingham massacre, he killed 6 people over a Facebook post

On Sunday 5 February 2017, Diego Alberto Loscalzo killed 6 people and wounded others after his wife had published a post on Facebook. The case became known as the Hurlingham massacre, after the Argentine town in Buenos Aires province where it happened.

The Hurlingham massacre

The story of the massacre is told by Cinthia López Gotta, one of the survivors. Cinthia says the massacre was premeditated, and that on the evening of the murders Diego had invited her, his sister-in-law Vanesa Maguna and her husband Darío Daniel Díaz to dinner with friends.

Besides the three of them, also at home were Romina Maguna, Diego’s partner and an officer of the Buenos Aires police, and her 11-year-old son from her ex-husband, who had been murdered 10 years earlier in circumstances never cleared up.

Cinthia says that after dinner Diego started arguing with Romina, snatched her service pistol and shot her. Cinthia and Vanesa immediately tried to overpower him, without success. Diego shot Vanesa, killing her, while Cinthia managed to run away. He chased her and shot her in the leg. The woman fell to the ground and, despite the pain, managed not to make a sound and survived by pretending to be dead.

Later investigations showed that he then shot Darío Díaz, who died later in hospital, and that he also tried to shoot the 11-year-old boy. After pointing the gun at the boy’s chest he did not pull the trigger, when the boy begged him, calling him “Dad”.

After shooting Cinthia he took his motorbike and went to the home of Romina’s brother, José Maguna. On a pretext he got the whole family to come outside and killed his mother-in-law Juana Paiva and his brother-in-law José, and wounded José’s wife Mónica Lloret, nine months pregnant and due to give birth within a week. She was taken to hospital, where she lost the baby during the caesarean. The little boy, who was to be called Mateo, had been hit by a bullet. Mónica’s daughter was also wounded in the attack.

The trigger

What set off the man’s rage was reportedly a Facebook post by his wife Romina, in which she remembered her murdered ex-husband on the tenth anniversary of his death.

So many feelings in that moment. I felt that time had stopped, that I couldn’t breathe. I just closed my eyes and dreamed for a moment that it was all a lie, that none of it was true. For a second I felt I was in your arms, I heard you say “Everything will be fine”. That breeze I felt was your caresses shaking my soul, my love… But when I opened my eyes, I simply came back to reality; I only had the most beautiful memories, still vivid, only the eternal love we gave each other and two wonderful lights that brighten my life, as you did, my love. I love you and that will never change. You will always live in me.

Two more of the killer’s victims, Juana Paiva and Vanesa Maguna, respectively Romina’s mother and sister, had left affectionate comments on the message.

Arrest and sentence

On 6 February 2017, the day after the massacre, Loscalzo was arrested in Río Segundo, in Córdoba province, while trying to escape on a long-distance bus. To the psychiatrists who examined him, Diego reportedly said he remembered nothing of what had happened and that the post had nothing to do with his outburst. He also said he had been abused when he was 12.

The experts, however, ruled out mental illness: according to their report he was fully aware and had planned the murders. At trial, Criminal Court no. 1 of Morón sentenced him to life imprisonment.

Sources

• La Capital, Conmoción por un séxtuple crimen en el que un hombre mató a su mujer y cinco familiares
• Diario de Cuyo, Con el arma de su mujer policía la mató y luego eliminó a otros 5 parientes de ella
• Canal 26, Según pericias, Loscalzo “programó los asesinatos”
• Supreme Court of Buenos Aires Province, appeal in case P135555 against the life sentence