Months after an unsolved quadruple homicide in La Plata last November, police have identified a new suspect linked to their initial suspect, a 28-year old karate expert

The incident was discovered on 27th November, when police found the bodies of the suspect’s then-girlfriend, Barbara Santos, 29, along with the bodies of Santos’ mother, her 11-year old daughter, and her friend Marisol Pereyra.

Police initially responded to testimony from taxi driver Marcelo Tagliaferro, who had dropped Marisol off at Santos’ apartment in La Plata. Tagliaferro told police that that the suspect assured him there would be no need to return later for another ride, offering the driver money to comply.

The karate expert was detained for 38 days as a “necessary participant” in the crimes, accused of homicide and aggravated murder. He was released after a Court of Appeals ruling cited lack of merit in the evidence, which stalled the case.

More than five months after the incident, acting on traces of DNA matched at the crime scene, police have detained a new suspect. Sources close to the investigation claim the new individual, nicknamed “The Hyena”, has already confessed to carrying out the murders on behalf of the preliminary suspect.

The case remains under the prosecution of La Plata’s Álvaro Garganta, who will re-evaluate the circumstances in light of the new suspect’s confession and the karate expert’s role in coordinating the brutal attacks.

The Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo today announced more details of one of the ‘lost grandchildren’, known as number 105. Last Friday the woman was identified as Laura Reinhold Silver.

In a press conference this morning the leader of the Abuelas, Estela de Carlotto, said that “it was Laura who approached the Abuelas.” She went on to say that she volunteered to have her DNA analysed because “she always had doubts about her identity.”

Silver had her DNA tested against samples held in the National Genetic Data Bank (BNDG) in June of this year. Last Wednesday the bank informed the National Commission for Rights and Identity (CONADI) that the DNA sample had 99% compatibility with the Reinhold-Silver family.

Therefore Silver has been confirmed as the daughter of Susana Silver and Marcelo Reinhold who disappeared in the east of Buenos Aires in 1977. They were then taken to a ESMA clandestine detention centre. According to testimonies, Susana was four months pregnant when she was kidnapped. She then gave birth in captivity where she had a caesarean section in the Naval hospital in 1978.

DNA samples of Felipe and Marcela Noble Herrera have been compared with two families in the national databank and have returned negative.

According to judicial sources, the DNA profiles of the adopted children of the Clarín owner, Ernestina Herrera de Noble, had begun to be tested this morning. They are being compared against DNA samples in the National Genetic Databank at Hospital Durand, which holds DNA samples of disappeared persons under the last dictatorship.

As ordered last Thursday in San Isidro by Judge Sandra Arroyo Salgado, the first samples were contrasted with the families of two disappeared persons in the databank.

The negative result marks an early set back in a case which has dragged on for more than 10 years.

By tomorrow or Wednesday a judge will order that the DNA samples will be matched with more samples in the database.

Yesterday Felipe and Marcela Noble Herrera gave samples of both blood and saliva. They arrived at Durand hospital voluntarily to provide their DNA information which may help to identify their biological parents.

These tests, which took nine hours, now mean the pair have given up the privacy of their genetic material. The National Genetic Data Bank (BNDG) now has access to information which may confirm them as the children of someone who was disapeared. This is in accordance with the measure passed by the Argentine congress in 2009 over the forcible extraction of DNA in such cases.

This was in fact the fourth time that the brother and sister had provided biological samples. However it was the first time that both blood and saliva had been taken.

Following years of campaigning by the group ‘Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo’ and numerous trails, the two siblings said they were giving their samples to end the “harassment” of themselves and their adoptive mother – owner of the powerful Clarín media group.

After the Abuelas, their lawyers Pablo Llonto and Alcira Ríos and public prosecutor Raúl Plee presented an appeal, the siblings appeared in court last Friday to announce they would submit to giving DNA samples.

Alejandro Carrio, the lawyer of the Noble Herrera family, explained that they are “tired of being attacked and of having lies said about them. They’re in a defeated state of mind from fighting so much for their rights.” This follows the continued suspicion surrounding their adoption in May and July 1976.

Despite the extraction of biological samples there still remains confusion over how exactly the samples will be used. Judge Arroyo Salgado predicted yesterday that as of Monday, BNDG specialists, in partnership with experts from both parties, would begin working on the samples to determine the genetic map of Felipe and Marcela. However a timeline has not been agreed upon.

It is certain though that the genetic profile obtained from these samples will now be compared to those which the BNDG has of those who disappeared under the last dictatorship (1976-83). Previously the brother and sister had resisted this and only allowed their DNA to be compared with a few samples. Now however they will not appeal this court order.

The adoptive children of the Clarín media group director have agreed to DNA testing after their latest court appeal was rejected.

This morning the siblings Felipe and Marcela Noble Herrera informed Federal Judge Sandra Arroyo Salgado that they will submit to a DNA testing to “put an end to the political and media harassment and persecution against them.”

Their genetic information will be used to determine whether they are the biological children of people who were disappeared during the last dictatorship (1976-1983). The test results will be compared to DNA in the National Bank of Genetic Data (BNDG), which holds genetic information of nearly two hundred families who were victims of the last dictatorship, and who hope to find babies who were stolen during the period.

In May 2010, Judge Salgado ruled that the children would be required to submit to a DNA test. In December 2010, their appeal was rejected.

This announcement marks a potential end to a legal battle that began nearly a decade ago. In 2002 the Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo went to court to demand DNA tests from the Noble Herrera siblings, who they suspected had been illegally appropriated by their adoptive father, Roberto Noble. Although the siblings had previously agreed to conduct their own DNA tests and compare them to the two families who believed they might have a blood relation, they refused to have their DNA tested formally and compared with the BNDG.

Through genetic testing the Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo have found over one hundred children who were illegally appropriated from the disappeared. They estimate the total number to be over 400.

The Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo human rights group recovered the 102nd child born to parents who disappeared during the dictatorship. The youth, a 32 year-old lawyer, was born in the the Navy Petty-Officers School of Mechanics (ESMA) in 1977.

Estela de Carlotto, the head of the Abuelas made this announcement on Sept. 20, 2010. He is the son of María Graciela Tauro and Jorge Daniel Rochistein, though his identity remains confidential.

In a press conference, Carlotto stated that the recovered youth is aware of his identity, but wishes to remain anonymous because he is processing the idea of his parents and their disappearances that occurred on May 15, 1977.

“It is not a simple case. He is amidst a tough, though not unique process,” explained Carlotto. “Still, based on the experience we have, it is going to end well.”

Initially he refused to submit DNA to genetic testing. Though after a court order for his submission by Judge Rodolfo Canicoba Corral, who is presiding over the case, the National Genetic Data Bank identified him as the child of Tauro and Rochistein with 99.9999 percent certainties.

Both Taro and Rochistein were from Bahía Blanca, a city in the province of Buenos Aires. Taro was said to be four months pregnant at the time of her disappearance and relocation to ESMA. After the birth of their son, the pair were executed.

Though the discovered youth did not attend the conference to remain anonymous, other Abuelas as well as six other recovered grandchildren came alongside Carlotto. Human Rights Secretary Eduardo Luis Duhalde, who also attended the press conference, remarked that “this case makes us feel stronger, in spite of the delaying measures which are taking place in the Noble-Herrera case”.

The Abuelas estimate that there are still 400 other children of the disappeared, much like the situation of the 102^nd, who are still unidentified.

The Court of Appeal denied a petition to prevent the DNA of the two adopted children of the owner of Clarín from being compared with a national data bank of the victims of the dirty war because they failed to sign the relevant paperwork.

Marcela and Felipe Herrera Noble, who were adopted in 1976 by the owner of the Clarín media group, Ernestina Herrera de Noble, are suspected of being the abducted children of victims of the 1976 to 1983 military dictatorship. The Abuelas de la Plaza de Mayo, a lobby group made up of the families of victims, have been campaigning since the 1990s to find the missing children of those who were killed by the military regime. The Abuelas have been in dispute with the Noble Herreras since 2000 about whether they should submit their DNA to be compared with Argentina’s national data bank.

The Court of Appeal rejected the Herrera Nobles’ case that they should not be forced to have their DNA compared with the national data bank on the grounds that their paperwork was not in order. The judges announced on Friday that the appeal was invalid because one of the documents used in the case had only been signed by the Herrera Noble’s lawyers but not the defendants themselves.

The judgement was criticised in the right-leaning Argentine Daily La Nación for “not considering any of the arguments at the core (of the case)” However, it was viewed positively by one of the lawyers of the Abuelas Alan Lud, who told the paper Página 12 that it was a “very important ruling” and said that “finally, after so many years we’ve achieved the possibility of finding truth and justice.”

The Herrera Nobles were appealing an original ruling by the court of San Martin, which ordered that genetic samples should be taken from them by force. Samples were taken three months ago, but have yet to be compared with the national DNA bank due to the ongoing legal dispute. The Herrera Noble’s have announced their intention to appeal now to the Supreme Court.

The adopted children of Clarín media mogul Ernestina Herrera de Noble have given DNA samples to Argentine authorities in hopes of determining whether they may be the offspring of a political prisoner who gave birth during the dictatorship.

Adopted in 1976, Felipe and Marcela as suspected by Human Rights groups to be the victims of a forced adoption scheme run by the government from 1976-1983. Harrera de Noble, 84, claims the babies were left on her doorstep one night.

On Tuesday the siblings were ordered by a judge to provide DNA samples at a Judicial Morgue, a federal forensic agency.

The Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo disagree with the test, stating it should have taken place at Durand Hospital where the National Bank of Genetic Data is stored. The group also maintains that the siblings may be some of the more than 400 babies born during the dictatorship and adopted into families after their parents’ murder. The Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo say they will continue fighting for an independent investigation.

Last month, Congress passed legislation allowing the forced extraction of DNA from people who may be the children of political prisoners, even if the person doesn’t wish to know the truth.
No test results are expected for 45 days.