The prosecution of the trial for the crime of former soccer player Tomás Felipe “Trinche” Carlovich, the idol of the Central Córdoba de Rosario club murdered during a robbery committed in 2021 in that city of Santa Fe, asked this Wednesday at the beginning of the debate that the defendant be sentenced to 37 years in prison, judicial sources reported.
The request of the prosecutor Georgina Pairola fell on the defendant Juan Maidana, alias “Bocachita”, who is also accused of having participated in three other acts of crimes against property.
As the prosecutor herself explained after her opening statement, these cases were “of very violent characteristics”, for which she stated “specifically that this violence, in the case of Carlovich, caused his death.”
The prosecutor remarked that in the case of Carlovich they have “eyewitnesses” and “expertise” that will “exceedingly” illustrate the mechanics of the event, in addition to the testimony of forensic experts and police employees who carried out “investigative and intelligence” tasks.
Prosecutor Viviana O’Connel also intervenes in the trial for the Public Prosecutor’s Office (MPA), who indicated that “in addition to Maidana, two other people participated who already accepted their participation and were sentenced in an abbreviated trial.”
“They were not an organized group, but a very violent acting gang, but without roles, they had a very rustic organization, which was dedicated to stealing bicycles, cell phones and objects of little value with a high degree of violence, that’s why they were not accused of conspiracy,” O’Connel explained.
Meanwhile, in the same process, a second suspect, Gabriel Omar Donaire, is tried, but only for another similar robbery committed days before the murder and not for Carlovich’s crime. The court in charge of the debate is made up of judges Gonzalo Fernández Bussy, Lorena Aronne and Pablo Pinto.
Carlovich (74) was the victim of an assault on the 6th of 2021 when he was riding a bicycle on Eva Perón avenue, at the height of Paraná street, in western Rosario, while crossing the railroad tracks.
According to the investigation, a man with a bare chest and a T-shirt tied around his neck, who was also riding a bicycle, pushed Carlovich while he was moving. The former soccer player, idol of the Central Córdoba de Rosario promotion team, fell to the ground and the thief left his bicycle to steal the victim’s.
As a result of the fall, “Trinche” hit his head against the asphalt and suffered a bruise in the area of the skull, for which he was admitted that afternoon to the local Emergency hospital. Finally, he died on May 8 as a result of the blow to the head.
Meanwhile, “Bocachita” was arrested a few days later and charged as the author of the murder, in addition to other robberies in the same place where Carlovich was assaulted.
The footballer and the myth
With a good part of his professional career in promotion categories, although he made his debut in Rosario Central in 1969 and had a spell at Colón de Santa Fe, Carlovich became an idol at Central Córdoba, a railway club located in the Tablada neighborhood, where he played in four different stages.
With no film record of his performances, over time the oral myth of an exceptional player was built around the “Trinche”, who was recognized by figures such as Diego Armando Maradona.
There are dozens of stories about his soccer ability that highlight him as a slow player, but extremely skilled in the middle of the field, where he played.
In 1974 he joined a Rosario team that played a friendly match with the National Team, whose first half ended 3-0 in favor of the locals and increased the myth of “Trinche” as an exceptional midfielder.