The afternoon in Chaco was suspended when, after three in the afternoon, technical judge Dolly Fernandez ordered the entry of the popular jury to read the verdict. The air in the room was cut by silence. Outside, 25 de Mayo Square shook with the rhythm of hundreds of people awaiting a decision in a case that has shaken the country since June 2023.
The voice of the court spokesman broke the silence of more than two years of waiting: Cesar Sena is guilty of double homicide by relation and sexual violence against his partner Cecilia Strzyzowski. Emerenciano Sena and Marcela Acuña, her parents, are guilty as primary accomplices in the femicide.
The verdict was issued after more than ten accumulated hours of deliberations between Friday and Saturday, in an unprecedented packaging process that included the isolation of the jury, permanent detention, and absolute prohibition of external contact. This was the first time in the history of jury trials in Chaco that members did not return home to deliberate.
Sequestered jury
Deliberations began on Friday at one in the afternoon. It continued until 7 p.m. Without agreement. In the absence of a unanimous decision, the judge ordered the 12 regular jurors and 8 alternates to be suspended and transferred to a hotel under an extremely strict solitary confinement protocol: without phones, without contact with their families and with two officers designated as exclusive assistants. The Chaco Court decided that the level of stress in the case made it necessary to ensure absolute isolation to protect the independence of the judge.
On Saturday, at eight in the morning, they resumed the discussion, and at two in the afternoon, he knocked on the door of the deliberation room and confirmed that the decision had been taken. The tension immediately moved into the hall, as lawyers, prosecutors, police officers and journalists ran to take their places while trumpets, drums and chants multiplied in the square chanting “Justice for Cecilia.” Mercedes Flores Valois was one of the last to enter.
Verdict: Life imprisonment for the son and his parents, a ruling of concealment and acquittal
Before Judge Fernandez, with the accused standing, the responsibility of the Sina clan was confirmed. Cesar listened to the referee almost motionless, wearing a white shirt and dark trousers. At his side, his mother, Marcela Acuña, was wearing a plaid shirt and underneath was a shirt with the face of Jesus Christ on it. Emerenciano, at the back, remained wearing a mask, with his hands crossed and his gaze fixed forward.
The decision puts them facing prison time Life imprisonmentsince aggravated murder and primary involvement provide this penal scope without alternatives.
In the section on accomplices, the jury found them guilty of aggravated concealment Fabiana Gonzalez and Gustavo Obregonthe latter has been historically recognized as Emerenciano’s right-hand man. The caretaker of the property where the body was burned, Gustavo Melgarejowas convicted of simple concealment, reducing his potential sentence to three years and releasing him from prison for time already served. melgarejo couple, Griselda ReynosoShe was acquitted and the judge ordered her immediate release.
The exact punishment for each person convicted will be determined in a Caesarean section within the next ten daysan example that is of great interest because of the placement of the faders. Judge Dolly Fernandez decides.
An unprecedented judicial process: duration, complexity and political impact
Trial known as cause 22.632/2023-1It began on October 28 with the interrogation phase at the Gala Conference Center and continued from the 31st at the Judicial Studies Center. The Judicial Office for Judicial Trials broadcast it in full on its official channel, and it received hundreds of thousands of views.
They introduced themselves 52 witnessesHours of videos were played, technological expertise, forensic reconstructions and multiple statements made by the accused themselves in 2023 were shown. The prosecution reconstructed the hypothesis of femicide as a planned event, framed in a conflicted bond between Cesar and Cecilia and conflicted with Marcela Acuña’s fierce opposition to marriage.
The financial team was headed by the Chamber’s Attorney General Juan Martin Bojadoaccompanied by Jorge Cáceres Oliveira and Nelia Velasquez. In parallel, complaints were filed by the victim’s mother, Gloria Romero, and the provincial Undersecretary for Gender and Diversity.
The defenses used various strategies: from lawyer Gabriela Tomlínovic’s insistence that there was no direct evidence against Cesar, to the constant procedural questions led by Emerenciano’s lawyer, Ricardo Osuna. Judge Fernandez had to intervene on dozens of occasions to order the discussion to take place.
This was it Verdict No. 86 rendered by a popular jury in Chaco.
Social reaction: An uproar surrounded the court for hours and affected the atmosphere of the ruling
From the beginning, Piazza 25 de Mayo was transformed into a meeting point dyed in pink, the color symbol of Cecilia. The reading of the ruling was followed minute by minute via loudspeakers placed by the judiciary outside the building.
Ecstasy was shouted and applauded at each guilty verdict. Reynoso’s acquittal was met with silence. The ruling against Cena unleashed a mixture of tears, hugs, applause and cries of relief.
Cecilia’s great aunt, Mercedes Valoispresent in the room, was applauded when she left. “I can only say thank you,” she managed to express, surrounded by family and friends. Gloria Romero did not attend, but she later posted a message on social media in which she spoke of “comfort” and “justice,” and thanked Chaco and both the lawyers and prosecutors who intervened.
There were also moments of tension: Lawyer Osuna had to leave accompanied by nearly a hundred police officers due to insults and objects hurled by a group of protesters. Journalist Freedom Radio He was even run over by one of the wheels of the car that was carrying the lawyer and part of his family.
Voices of the End: Justice, Relief and a Message to the Future
After the reading, prosecutor Bojado stated that the verdict “sets a tremendous precedent given the importance of the case and the impartiality of the jury,” and added: “It is a pleasure to see justice for a girl who has suffered so much. I have four daughters, and this was a challenge for me.” Prosecutor Velázquez, who was visibly emotional as the verdict was read, stated that the trial “represents a before and after justice for Chaco” and stressed that “it has been proven once again that people can be trusted.”
Meanwhile, the convicts were transferred under heavy guard to their places of detention. The demonstrators remained in the square until the last of them left the building, on a hot day that will leave its mark in the collective memory of Chaco.
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