Nine people have been detained after the murders of Morena Verdi and Brenda del Castillo, 20, and Lara Gutierrez, 15.
Published On 1 Oct 2025
Police in Peru have arrested the main suspect of the livestreamed torture and killing of two young women and a girl in Buenos Aires, bringing the total number of arrests to nine, according to the Argentinian government.
In a statement posted on X late on Tuesday, Argentinian Security Minister Patricia Bullrich thanked the Peruvian authorities for detaining two people in connection with the femicide that has shocked Argentina since it was uncovered last week.
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“I want to congratulate the Peruvian National Police for their tremendous work and collaboration in capturing the two fugitives in the triple murder,” Bullrich said.
The main suspect, “Little J”, a Peruvian national who is about 20 years old, was arrested about 45 miles (72 kilometres) south of Peru’s capital, Lima. He reportedly operates a drug gang in the Zavaleta neighbourhood of Buenos Aires.
Matias Ozorio, who is thought to be the main suspect’s right-hand man, was also detained in Peru.
Last Wednesday, the bodies of 20-year-old cousins Morena Verdi and Brenda del Castillo, and 15-year-old Lara Gutierrez were discovered buried in the garden of a house in the southern suburbs of Argentina’s capital. They had gone missing five days earlier.
Buenos Aires Security Minister Javier Alonso said the trio were tortured and murdered on a closed social media group of 45 users, adding that the video was intended as a “warning” over an alleged drug theft.
The footage came to light after a suspect in the case was questioned, Alonso added.
Thousands of Argentinians took to the streets of Buenos Aires on Saturday to demand justice for the victims and to call for action from the government of President Javier Milei against increasing “narco” influence in Argentina.
“Women must be protected more than ever,” said Leonel del Castillo, whose daughter Brenda was one of the three victims. He had been unable to identify her body because the torture was so severe, the AFP news agency quoted him as saying.
Demonstrators held banners with slogans including “It was a narco-femicide!” and “Our lives are not disposable!”.
Antonio del Castillo, the grandfather of the killed cousins, described their killers as “bloodthirsty”.
