Brenda Castillo in the Florencio Varela triple murder: three new individuals charged with aggravated homicide

Federal Judge Jorge Rodríguez has charged three new defendants in connection with the brutal homicide of Brenda del Castillo, Morena Verdi, and Lara Gutiérrez, whose bodies were discovered in late September 2025 at a residence located in Florencio Varela. The three accused—Mónica Mujica (37 years old), Joseph Cubas Zavaleta (31, nicknamed “Señor J”), and Bernabé Jesús Mallon (42)—have been formally charged with repeated aggravated illegal deprivation of liberty and repeated aggravated homicide, according to the ruling issued on December 30, 2025.

Victims: Brenda Castillo, Morena Verdi, and Lara Gutiérrez

Brenda Castillo was twenty years old when she was kidnapped along with Morena Verdi, also twenty, and Lara Gutiérrez, just fifteen. The three young women were lured into a white Chevrolet Tracker pickup truck near Quila and El Tiburón, in Ciudad Evita, La Matanza, on the afternoon of September 19, 2025. Security camera footage documented their route, showing they were transported from La Tablada to a house in Florencio Varela, where a party was allegedly to take place. Once inside the residence, the attackers revealed their true intentions: to recover a stolen drug shipment.

The Crime: Drug Theft and Mortal Retaliation

The investigation revealed that the motive for the crime was the theft of a shipment of illicit substances intended for street sale in Florencio Varela. The stolen cargo belonged to a drug trafficking organization with a cellular structure operating in the region. The perpetrators had connections with the victims and used deception and tricks, exploiting their vulnerability, to establish trust and lure them into the trap.

Judge Rodríguez described in his ruling how the attackers subjected the victims to “extreme physical violence, including punches, kicks, and the use of sharp-edged tools, causing severe injuries.” He emphasized that the suffering inflicted “was neither instantaneous nor necessary to cause death, but involved a deliberate and inhumane increase in suffering,” constituting the crime of cruelty. After the young women’s deaths, the perpetrators concealed the bodies through clandestine burial and took steps to eliminate traces and discard the vehicles used.

Initial Investigation and Transfer to Federal Court

Initially, the case was handled by the Buenos Aires provincial justice system under the direction of La Matanza prosecutor Adrián Arribas, with collaboration from Claudio Fornaro and Diego Rulli. The Guarantee Judge Fernando Pinos Guevara also participated in the early stages. The prosecutors submitted a 227-page report justifying the request for preventive detention for eight initially detained individuals.

The case was transferred to the federal jurisdiction due to the involvement of a multi-territorial drug trafficking organization linked to Law 23.737 on drug offenses. The prosecutors argued that “federal jurisdiction appeared to be the best solution to ensure greater effectiveness of the investigation.” Federal Judge Jorge Rodríguez then took over the investigation, aiming to guarantee a strategic and effective criminal pursuit.

The Accused and Their Roles in the Conspiracy

The three new defendants played specific roles in the crime. The judge established that “the accused have made essential contributions to the execution of the criminal act, participating in various phases: from prior planning, logistics of capturing and transporting the victims, securing the detention site, to controlling and subjugating them.”

Mónica Mujica, wife of Víctor Sotacuro Lázaro (a key member of the drug organization), played a role in the logistics of the crime. Witness statements indicated that after Brenda Castillo and her companions were murdered, Mujica disposed of her husband’s cellphone. Joseph Cubas Zavaleta, identified as a Peruvian drug trafficker, allegedly coordinated the operation. Bernabé Jesús Mallon actively participated in the planning and execution phases.

Tony Janzen Valverde Victoriano and the Criminal Network

Initially, Tony Janzen Valverde Victoriano, nicknamed “Pequeño J” and then detained in Peru awaiting extradition, was identified as the mastermind behind the triple homicide. However, investigations revealed a more complex network of participants. The drug trafficking organization included multiple members such as Víctor Sotacuro Lázaro (alias “El Duro”), Alex Roger Ydone Castillo, Celeste González Guerrero, Milagros Florencia Ibañez, Iara Daniela Ibarra, Matías Agustín Ozorio, Maximiliano Parra, Miguel Ángel Villanueva Silva, and others not yet identified.

Key Evidence and Testimonies

Among the evidence were vehicle tracking footage from security cameras documenting the route of the white Chevrolet Tracker from La Tablada to Florencio Varela. Upon reaching the suburban area, a Volkswagen Fox driven by Alex Ydone Castillo, Sotacuro, and Ibañez joined, deepening the coordination of the operation.

Testimonies from individuals with reserved identities were crucial in linking Cubas Zavaleta to the coordination of the crime. One witness stated that the Peruvian trafficker, even from his detention in an Argentine Federal Police cell in Palermo, continued to give orders and kept a notebook with notes that proved his intellectual involvement. This notebook was seized during the search of his cell.

Legal Foundations of the Judicial Resolution

Judge Rodríguez concluded that the accused acted “confidently, treacherously, and without the possibility of defense.” He emphasized that the perpetrators’ goal was to cause the victims’ death “to conceal the prior criminal act,” using “punches, kicks, and sharp-edged tools,” demonstrating a deliberate intent to increase suffering “inhumanely.”

The ruling highlights that the behavior of the defendants demonstrates “a total disregard for human life.” The subsequent concealment of the bodies through clandestine burial and the destruction of traces further evidences conduct aimed at ensuring impunity, thereby aggravating the criminal responsibility of those involved in the triple homicide of Brenda Castillo, Morena Verdi, and Lara Gutiérrez.