Shivangi Sinha
In early 1979, in a middle-class neighborhood of Buenos Aires, Argentina, the police began investigating the death of Mema Venturini, as her family did not believe she had simply fallen due to a heart attack. Soon, the police were able to connect her death with those of Nilda Gamba and Chicha Ayala. All three had passed away within weeks of each other and had ties to the same person, who had been frequently seen around them, even in the last moments of their lives. Netflix’s ‘Yiya Murano: Death at Tea Time’ provides a clear and detailed account of the investigation and the efforts of the police that led to the arrest of the perpetrator.
Nilda Gamba, Chicha Ayala and Mema Venturini Lived in the Same Neighborhood and Passed Away Within Weeks of Each Other
Nilda Adelina Gamba, Leila “Chicha” Formisano de Ayala, and Carmen “Mema” Zulema del Giorgio Venturini had built their lives in the Monserrat neighborhood of Buenos Aires, Argentina. They lived fulfilling lives, with children and grandchildren around them, and had created comfortable lives for themselves despite not having much. By 1979, Nilda was living alone in an apartment at Calle México 2655. She had been sick for a while. She had also been taken to the hospital a few days earlier, and it was therefore believed that she died from complications related to the same condition, with no further investigation at the time.
On February 19, 1979, the police broke into the home of Chicha, who was around 60 years old. There was a distinct smell coming from her apartment, and her remains were found inside. It appeared as if she had died of natural causes, and there was nothing immediately suspicious about the situation. Mema also lived in the same neighborhood and had a close relationship with her daughter, Diana María Venturini.
Her grandchildren, Martín and Mariana, would visit her often, and she was always enthusiastic about hosting them. On March 24, 1979, her daughter received a call informing her that Mema had slipped on the stairs and died. It was initially believed she had suffered a heart attack, but police later discovered lethal amounts of cyanide in her system. The deaths of the other two women were also found to be caused by the same substance, making it clear that the incidents were not natural.
Nilda Gamba, Chicha Ayala and Mema Venturini’s Killer Had Taken Money From Them
While the deaths of Nilda Adelina Gamba and Leila “Chicha” Formisano de Ayala had not initially raised much concern for the police, they only began to investigate the case more seriously after Carmen “Mema” Zulema del Giorgio Venturini passed away. Her family insisted that she had been well and active, making a sudden heart attack seem unlikely. At that point, Diana Venturini discovered that one of her mother’s IOUs, linked to a debt owed by her cousin Yiya Murano, was missing. She informed the police, who told her that shortly after Mema’s death and before Diana had arrived, Yiya had already appeared at the scene. She had told the detective present that she was a cousin and had expressed regret over her cousin’s passing.
Yiya had told the detective that she wanted to go inside the house to get a notebook and had made an excuse about needing a list of names she had to inform. She was allowed in, and when she walked out, she was carrying an envelope and a small glass bottle. When police later discovered traces of cyanide in Mema’s system, they began to investigate her more closely. They soon found that Yiya had been acting as a kind of informal investor for her friends and had taken large sums of money from them. In the days before Mema’s death, she had been asking for her money back. The police also discovered that Yiya had connections to the other two cases as well.
Nilda Gamba, Chicha Ayala and Mema Venturini’s Killer Gave Them Cyanide Through Her Tea
Chicha Ayala was Yiya Murano’s next-door neighbor, and in fact, the latter was the last person to see her. She had gone to give her tea and eclairs, and Nilda had also given her money. Her family claimed that she wanted to travel, already had her passport ready, and had asked Yiya to return her money with interest. Nilda Gamba, who also lived close to Yiya, had an even stronger connection. When she had been sick, Yiya used to visit her house and bring her tea, telling her it would soothe her stomach. In fact, she had the tea on the day she passed away as well. There were also several coincidences in the case. One of them was the fact that next to Mema Venturini’s bed were pastries Yiya had brought just hours before her death, and was likely the last person to see her.
In April 1979, Yiya was arrested at her home and the investigation continued. The police exhumed the remains of Nilda and Chicha, and forensic reports suggested traces of cyanide in their stomachs as well. The police theorized that Yiya had given cyanide to the women she was in debt to and had taken their IOUs to relieve herself of financial pressure. They proposed that she would arrive at their homes with pastries and tea and encourage them to consume the tea later, supposedly to settle their stomachs. According to this theory, it gave her time to leave the house when the poison took effect and kept her outside the immediate circle of suspicion. In 1982, Yiya was acquitted, but in 1986, upon appeal, she was retried and convicted of triple homicide and financial fraud.
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