Kriti Mehrotra
As a documentary living up to its title in every way conceivable, Netflix’s ‘Breaking the Silence: The Maria Soledad Case’ can only be described as equal parts baffling and intriguing. That’s because it delves deep into the September 1990 homicide of a 17-year-old high school student from Catamarca, Argentina, named Maria Soledad Morales. The truth is she sadly disappeared a few days before following a night out with friends for a school function, only to then, unfortunately, evolve into a victim of femicide.
Maria Soledad Was Found in a Ditch Days After She Vanished
At the age of 17, high school student Maria was honestly trying to live her best possible life alongside friends and family, but everything turned upside down during a dancing queen fundraiser that was held before prom. Maria actually lived a little further away from the city, so the plan was for her to crash at a friend’s place that evening, but she refused when the time came as her boyfriend had decided to show up. This boyfriend of hers, Luis Raul Tula, was 11 years older than her at 28, yet she truly believed herself to be in love and thus overlooked many such aspects.
However, as per reports, Maria didn’t actually leave the club with Luis – following a bit of back and forth, she had walked away and was last seen at the local bus stop at around 2 or 3 in the morning. This was Saturday, September 7, 1990, but the teen hadn’t called or returned home by Monday, worrying her parents to such an extent they even went to her school to learn more. They had already spent the weekend looking for her with the help of loved ones, but to no avail, so they did think some of her friends might know something extra going on in her life.
But alas, before things could proceed any further, Maria’s father got a call from the authorities to inform him they had found a body but needed his help to positively identify her as Maria. She had been recovered from a ditch along the side of the rose 6 miles away from the city, but the way she had been found made it evident she had been heinously killed. It turns out she had been raped, burned with cigarettes, beaten, and nearly mutilated after having been drugged with cocaine until she overdosed and died from a cardiac arrest-related asphyxiation.
Maria Soledad’s Murder Initially Seemed Unsolvable
Despite the fact Maria’s body was found in an open space with both foot and car traffic all around, it is alleged the scene was heavily compromised because the police initially failed to secure it. They reportedly didn’t even canvass the areas until about a month later when the prime minister got involved owing to the public’s pressure to somehow bring this teen’s killers to justice. After all, according to the show, serious efforts were made to cover up this whole ordeal because some of Catamarca’s local politicians’ children had been involved in one way or another.
The initial suspicion had previously fallen on Luis, yet he was released from custody within hours as he told them he had left shortly after Maria had walked away from him, and there was no concrete evidence against him. However, following months of silent marches from her loved ones as well as the local community, along with the efforts placed in by an unbiased task force on this matter, arrests were made. Maria’s boyfriend, Luis Raul Tula, as well as national Congressman Angel Luque and local congresswoman Bea Luque’s son, Guillermo Daniel Luque, were arrested in connection to her demise.
It Took Nearly a Decade for the Truth About Maria Soledad’s Murder to Come to Light
While Luis and Guillermo had initially told investigators they didn’t even know one another, with the latter stating he wasn’t even in town at the time of the murder, witness testimonies changed everything. An employee of the Luque household soon came forward to assert he had heard the latter and his father talk about him having killed a “Chiquita” over the fateful weekend, following which he even got blood-covered clothes. This employee later asserted he and his family had been threatened to keep his mouth shut, but he had to speak up.
As per the show, several other witnesses came forward over the years and during the duo’s murder trial in 1996, yet many had already recanted their previous statements. It is believed they had been seriously threatened in the days leading up to the court proceedings, especially as the prosecutors claimed Luis and Guillermo were not the only ones involved and that they had other accomplices too. That’s because the injuries Maria sustained coincided with having been raped several times by different men and having been beaten with different hands.
However, it took a mistrial owing to a judge’s resignation, a second trial, and over 300 witnesses for it to be ruled that Luis and Guillermo were indeed responsible for Maria’s demise. It was asserted the latter had picked him up from the bus stop before taking her to a nightclub, where he, Luis, and his friends started taking advantage of her. They had later brought her to a local hospital to get her stomach pumped, but once they were told she had already died, they decided to dispose of her body. Therefore, in 2017, Guillermo was convicted and sentenced for murder, and Luis was convicted as an accomplice. No one else has ever been charged and arrested in connection with this case.
