RECOLETA, BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA – MARCH 20, 2024 The victim – Germán Medina, 33 – was seriously injured, with a gunshot wound to the head, and was transported to Fernández Hospital but died shortly after, while his attacker fled.
The brief dialogue took place on Wednesday at noon in a minimarket on Austria Street, almost Beruti, in Recoleta, between the cashier and Abel Guzmán (43), the colorist hairdresser at Facundo Verdini’s salon who, hours later, would end up cold-bloodedly executing his coworker, Germán Medina (33).
Guzmán had bought a small soda and was waiting to be charged. Both laughed at the supposed joke, but in the killer’s mind, the phrase “forewarned is forearmed” was already running.
The neighborhood is in turmoil. Many neighbors pass through the door asking what happened there, why so much police and media presence. Others wonder if it happened there at all.
“I thought it was a joke,” says the young cashier at the minimarket to Clarín. “Who could think he was serious?” She then clarifies that she doesn’t want to talk anymore because her bosses won’t let her testify and also out of fear. It’s a feeling shared by several neighbors.
Abel’s plan to kill: visit to a cousin, a backpack, and the keys to the premises.
For 11 years, “Abelo” had been working in the business located at 3017 Beruti Street.
The judge in charge of the case, Javier Sánchez Sarmiento, seeks to explain how Guzmán became a cold and ruthless killer. One of those who, like Robert De Niro in Taxi Driver, carefully plan the lethal shot.
The crime video shows that at a moment of relaxation after the salon closed, “Abelo” pulled out a gun, aimed patiently, and shot Germán in the head.
Pablo is the victim’s cousin and told him that on Wednesday at noon, Abel Guzmán went to his cousin’s house in the Once neighborhood. He speculates that he would have gone to fetch the pistol. “He arrived nervous with a backpack that he didn’t let go of all day.”
And he added one more detail: when the clients left, the colorist asked for the keys to close the premises and lock everyone inside. “When he shoots Germán, he forgets where he left the keys and asks one of those who were there to open the window for him to escape,” he tells Clarín.
Investigators will have to confirm whether this is the explanation for why another coworker agrees to open the window for Guzmán and then close it again. The video has no sound. One possibility is that he acted under threat.
Investigators believe it was a planned crime; the day before, Abel cut his hair and told a supermarket cashier he knew when she asked why he cut his hair, that it was because he was going to kill someone.
