Camilo Caupolicán Escobar, 10.01.2019. Shot dead – Neuquén

On 1 January 2019, Camilo went to Caballito to buy marijuana flowers at a house on 1259 Neuquén Street. He had 2,765 pesos in his wallet (currently worth approximately 70 or 80 pesos), which corroborates that he was going to make a small purchase for personal consumption. In the house, there was another alleged buyer who had ordered a large quantity costing 200,000 pesos and who would have paid a commission of 5,000 pesos to the person who had contacted him. Inside the house, the buyer took the bag with the purchase and, before paying, announced that he was a police officer, showed his badge, and ordered them to lie down on the floor. During the altercation, he pulls out his 9mm calibre weapon, stands in the doorway to prevent those inside from escaping, and then shoots Camilo in the chest, killing him. However, seconds before, he managed to wound his attacker in the face, leaving blood stains and a tooth. 

Despite this relevant information, the few media outlets that reported the news at the time presented it as a possible ‘drug-related crime by mistake’ or even a ‘settling of scores.’ Media outlets that were absent yesterday.

For five and a half years, the identity of the murderer was unknown. No witnesses claimed to know him. The police cleared the area. Camilo‘s murderer arrived and left on a motorcycle without a licence plate. He even had the luxury of returning minutes after committing the crime to retrieve his motorcycle without anyone stopping him.

After leaving on his motorcycle, nothing more was heard of the murderer. Court No. 3, then presided over by Judge Bruniard, denied the prosecution’s request for DNA and images recorded by at least five security cameras in the vicinity (two of them on the block where the house was located). It took more than three years before, after a change of judge, the request for the images was finally granted.

The prosecution also distrusts the material due to the absence of evidence (no sirens, no SAME or security forces personnel are visible), only a blurry image of the killer. There is very little evidence from the cameras in the area, which also raised doubts when, in September 2024, the only (and blurry) image of the killer was published with an offer of a reward for anyone providing information. What was the purpose of ‘releasing’ that image? To find the killer or to send a message for reasons unknown to us?

The murder of Camilo Caupolicán Escobar not only reveals the action or inaction of the repressive forces: action, given that the murderer is part of a federal force. The ‘inaction’ is rather an omission to cooperate with the investigation. Camilo‘s murder and its cover-up show the complicity and links between the repressive forces and drug trafficking.

The sister of one of the key witnesses, who is also involved in the sale of narcotics, is a police officer. This witness, whose name has appeared in the case file since the beginning of the proceedings, raised many doubts about the information he provided, or rather, about the information he did not provide.

On 4 June, a witness confirmed that Camilo‘s killer belongs to a federal force. The court has his name and ID number. Why is a force that is paradoxically supposed to be a “security” force not being required to hand over its member so that he can at least be questioned and investigated?

Alongside his father Oscar were mothers of other victims of institutional violence. Nora, mother of Juan Ignacio Encina, who was murdered by Buenos Aires police officer Jorge Montero, was present. Emilia Vasallo, a leader of the National March Against Police Brutality, which takes place every year at the end of August, was also present. Emilia is the mother of Pablo Alcorta, another victim of police violence. Verónica, the mother of Nicolas Broeckaert, another victim of institutional violence, more precisely of the Monte Grande Municipal Police, was also present.

The relatives of victims support each other, embrace each other, and fight for their causes. ‘I am not here only for Camilo. Our children will not return, but we are here for all the young people who are still alive,’ Oscar said yesterday. He had also said this when he took the microphone at the National March Against Police Brutality. Camilo had participated alongside Oscar in demonstrations for both Luciano Arruga and Mariano Ferreyra.

In times of selfishness, pettiness, opportunism, and cowardice, Oscar’s fight is not only for justice for his son; his fight is to recover that collective solidarity that today seems to have been forgotten.

The press union and many subsidised organisations that claim to defend human rights but abandoned Oscar and other victims should learn a lot from him.

On July 24, 2025, frente a las escalinatas de tribunales, se desarrolló la conferencia de prensa convocada por Oscar Escobar ante la situación de la causa por el asesinato de su hijo Camilo Caupolicán. Con la ausencia de los medios hegemónicos Oscar se expresó acompañado de su abogado y de madres de otras víctimas de gatillo fácil. Oscar y su abogado Mario Perricone denunciaron que «se rompió el secreto de sumario y no fue la querella quien lo hizo». Además de la dilación en las detenciones pertinentes también denunciaron negligencias en la protección de testigos por parte de la Fiscalía a cargo de Laura Belloqui. La causa está en manos del Juez subrogante Marcos Fernández en el Juzgado Criminal y Correccional Número 3 Por Ramiro Giganti (ANRed).

“On 4 June, a person fully identified the murderer. There is no doubt about the identification of the murderer. I would also like to refer to the statement of a witness who, out of fear after seeing his friend killed, left the country that same day. This complaint brought him back, and he testified for eight hours. There is a very important part of his statement where he says that while he was in the presence of the police, the ambulance, and all the people, the murderer came back wearing different clothes, because if you look at the photo, he is wearing a jacket, and then he comes back wearing a T-shirt. The boy shouted, ‘That’s the one who killed Camilo, that’s the one who killed Camilo,’ and the police did absolutely nothing.”

This is how Camilo Caupolicán Escobar‘s father opened the press conference. He was accompanied by his lawyer, other relatives of young people murdered by police forces, and by this media outlet. In addition to ANRed, Periodismo de Izquierda was also present covering the conference.

The family lawyer Mario Perricone:

“For more than five and a half years, we were in the dark. At the beginning of June, a reliable lead was found and corroborated in case 5698 of 2019, which is being handled by Criminal and Correctional Court 3. A technical error led to a breach of confidentiality, allowing all parties to read who was being sought. We have identified the murderer; we are certain, not completely certain at this stage, but we are fairly certain, based on direct evidence, not circumstantial evidence, of who the person is. And the judge in charge ruled that, for now, it was not appropriate to arrest the person.”

 On July 25, 2025, after six and a half years of struggle by his father, Oscar Escobar, and the prosecution, Juan Manuel Guellin, the murderer of Camilo, has been in custody for 48 hours. The court had his name and some information in its possession since June 4, but the arrest was delayed. Along with the complaint, this newspaper’s journalistic investigation also provided information to the court. Guellín, 28, belongs to a federal police force.

After his arrest, other questions will be answered: What happened to the bag he stole containing kilos of marijuana? Did he work for a superior officer? Did he commit other crimes while part of a security force? Why, when he returned to get his motorcycle minutes after murdering Camilo, was he not arrested despite having been identified by a witness?