Three women, including one age 15, raped and killed in 'horror house' on social media live video as 45 people watched

Police are investigating after 15-year-old Lara Gutierrez, Brenda del Castillo, aged 20, and Morena Verdi, age 21, were lured to a ‘horror house’ and killed.

Detectives said around 45 people watched on a social media live video as the three women were tortured to death. The video was broadcast in a closed group on the social media platform. Four people have since been arrested.

Police say they were tricked into going to a “horror house” on the outskirts of the Argentinian capital Buenos Aires, around 20 miles from where they lived. According to local news reports, one woman had her fingers amputated while another was suffocated with a plastic bag.

Antonio, the grandfather of del Castillo and Verdi, spoke to local press after the crime was reported. “The ending we didn’t want has happened,” said Antonio, who used his first name only. “They have taken two beautiful young things from our lives. And not just that they took them… Do you know what those girls must have suffered, the pain they must have felt in their bodies? And now, we want to ask for justice.”

The three women had allegedly been accused of stealing cocaine by a narco gang. They were murdered in what has been described as a “revenge killing” which was allegedly ordered by the gang leader, as stated by local publications. The crime boss, who has been identified as a Peruvian national and believed to have fled the country, reportedly ordered the murders as a “deterrent” to others.

Buenos Aires’ security minister Javier Alonso said the three women had been lured in to a death trap set for them, as they were tricked in to believing they were attending a party. “They were last seen getting into a vehicle voluntarily because they had been invited to an event, not knowing they were falling into a trap set for them by an international drugs trafficking gang which had hatched a plan to kill them,” he said.

He also confirmed the three killings had been filmed and broadcast live online. He said: “It was for a closed group of around 45 people. That’s the information we have obtained so far from the investigation. It is relevant to the motive for the murders, which is that the leader of the gang is saying ‘this is what happens to you if you steal drugs from me.’”

The bodies of the three victims were found yesterday (Thursday September 24), five days after they went missing at around 9.30pm on Friday (September 19). Local media reports claimed one or two of the three women killed had been accused of stealing four kilos of cocaine from the gang, but they did not state which of the victims this was.

Alonso said: “The families of the victims have been informed. The bodies were found in the early hours of the morning buried in a garden. The drugs trafficking organisation has its operational command in Buenos Aires and they had chosen this house to carry out the murders.

“Four people have so far been arrested. The vehicle the girls were picked up in was located 100 metres from the house. It had been set alight and was burnt out. We are convinced the victims were killed on Friday night between 11pm and midnight. Our investigation to apprehend the intellectual and material authors is very advanced.” He also labelled the crime a “narco act of revenge”.

The youngest victim, 15-year-old Lara Gutierrez, reportedly had all five fingers on her left hand cut off before bedore she died. Meanwhile the body of Brenda Del Castillo, 20, had a skull fracture. Her stomach had been cut after she was killed. Morena Verdi, 21, is said to have been asphyxiated when a plastic bag was pulled over her head.

Local police said they had made four arrests yesterday. Eight more suspects are understood to have been held overnight. Police raided the horror house in the Buenos Aires suburb of Florencia Varela where the killings took place. Two women were found to be cleaning the property when police attended. Three of the arrestees, including the two women, are Argentinians aged 18, 19 and 28. The other one is a Peruvian 27-year-old.