Puccio family
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The Puccio family was an
Argentine Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish (masculine) or (feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Argentines, s ...
criminal family. Three of the Puccios were convicted of four kidnappings and three murders in the early 1980s.


Background

The family, which comprised father
Arquímedes Puccio Arquímedes Rafael Puccio ( Barracas, Buenos Aires, 14 September 1929 – General Pico, La Pampa, 4 May 2013) nicknamed "The crazy sweeper (in Spanish: ''El loco de la escoba'')" was an Argentinian accountant, lawyer,Alejandro Alejandro is the Spanish form of the name Alexander. Alejandro has multiple variations in different languages, including Aleksander (Czech, Polish), Alexandre ( French), Alexandros (Greek), Alsander (Irish), Alessandro (Italian), Aleksandr (Rus ...
, Silvia, Daniel, Guillermo, and Adriana Puccio - lived in a large house in San Isidro, a wealthy suburb of
Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...
. Arquímedes is suspected to have been involved in
forced disappearance An enforced disappearance (or forced disappearance) is the secret abduction or imprisonment of a person by a state or political organization, or by a third party with the authorization, support, or acquiescence of a state or political organiza ...
s during the
Dirty War The Dirty War ( es, Guerra sucia) is the name used by the military junta or civic-military dictatorship of Argentina ( es, dictadura cívico-militar de Argentina, links=no) for the period of state terrorism in Argentina from 1974 to 1983 a ...
. Alejandro was a star rugby player, and Silvia was an art teacher.


Victims

*Ricardo Manoukian, aged 23, who disappeared on July 22, 1982, was the Puccio family's first known kidnapping victim. Manoukian's family paid a ransom of $250,000; nevertheless, he was later killed with three shots to the neck. He had been introduced to Alejandro Puccio by friends in his neighbourhood, and the two often played tennis and football together. *Engineer Eduardo Aulet was kidnapped on May 5, 1983. Although his family paid $150,000 for his ransom, the Puccios killed him. His body was found four years later. *Emilio Naum was kidnapped in June 1984 and attempted to resist the kidnapping. He was shot right there, and his body was left in the street. *Nélida Bollini de Prado, the family's last victim and the only one who could survive, was kidnapped and held for almost a month. The police detained the kidnappers as the latter attempted to retrieve the ransom; they also detained Alejandro and his girlfriend Monica, who were home at the time. Bollini de Prado was found and released in a police raid on the Puccio house on 23 August 1985.


Punishment

The family was arrested and taken to jail. While awaiting court sentencing, Alejandro tried to commit suicide by jumping from the fifth floor of the courthouse when he was being taken to testify. He survived, however, with serious health complications. Arquímedes and his two older sons, Alejandro and Daniel, were convicted of the crimes, along with three other accomplices. Arquímedes and Alejandro each received a life sentence, while Daniel was jailed for a number of years. The youngest son, Guillermo, who had escaped from the family long before they were arrested, avoided justice by leaving the country. Epifanía Calvo, Silvia, and Adriana were never convicted of any involvement in the crimes.


Accomplices

The Puccios had at least three adult male accomplices: Roberto Oscar Díaz, Guillermo Fernández Laborda and Rodolfo Victoriano Franco. Franco, a retired colonel, is simply referred to as "the Colonel" in the TV mini-series, ''
Historia de un clan ''Historia de un clan'' ( es, History of a clan) is an Argentine TV series made in 2015 by Telefe, starring Alejandro Awada. It is based on the 1980s exploits of the real-life Puccio family. Plot The Puccio are apparently a family like any other: ...
'' Another was Gustavo Contepomi.


Later life

* The location of Daniel, who served only a few years in prison, was unknown until September 17, 2019, when he was arrested during a routine drug route bus inspection at
Rodovia Castelo Branco The Rodovia Presidente Castelo Branco (SP-280) is a tollway in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. It was first opened on Saturday, 10 November 1968, by, then, the Governor of the state of São Paulo, Abreu Sodré. The tollway name was given in mem ...
in
Itu The International Telecommunication Union is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for many matters related to information and communication technologies. It was established on 17 May 1865 as the International Telegraph Unio ...
, a city in the
State of São Paulo State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...
in
Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
. He was arrested for carrying falsified Brazilian identification documents. After checking with Interpol it was concluded that there were no pending arrest warrants for Daniel. In his possession was US$5,000.00 in cash which according to him, it was a gift from his brother. *In the early 1980s, Guillermo left Argentina and never returned. The statute of limitations for his alleged crimes expired in 2013, so he will never be tried. *In 2007, Alejandro was paroled. A year later, he died of pneumonia at the age of 49. *In 2011, Silvia, the second eldest child who taught art locally, died of cancer. *In 2013, Arquímedes died of a stroke, still proclaiming his innocence. *As of 2015, Epifanía Calvo and Adriana (the youngest child) still own the house in San Isidro where the crimes were perpetrated.


In popular culture

The family and their crimes are the subjects of several works: * The film, '' The Clan'' (2015), starring
Guillermo Francella Guillermo Héctor Francella (born February 14, 1955) is an Argentine actor and comedian. Besides a long history of working as a television leading man, he also has a varied theatrical and film career. Francella is widely regarded by experts and c ...
as Arquímedes *The
Telefe Telefe (acronym for Televisión Federal) is a television station located in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The station is owned and operated by Paramount Global through Televisión Federal S.A. Telefe is also one of Argentina's six national television ...
TV mini-series, ''
Historia de un clan ''Historia de un clan'' ( es, History of a clan) is an Argentine TV series made in 2015 by Telefe, starring Alejandro Awada. It is based on the 1980s exploits of the real-life Puccio family. Plot The Puccio are apparently a family like any other: ...
'' (2015), starring
Alejandro Awada Alejandro Awada (; December 7, 1961) is an Argentine character actor of Syrian and Lebanese descent. He has appeared in a great number of television series, programmes and onstage. Personal life Awada was born on 3 December 1961 in Villa Bal ...
as Arquímedes *"The secret of the Greco family", (2022) Mexican series produced by Alejandro Ciancio, aired on Netflix, casting Fernando Colunga, Lisa Owen, Manuel Masalva, Luis Machín, Rafael Ferro, Alejandro de Hoyos, Samantha Siqueiros, Antonio de la Vega, Roberta Damián and Paula Reca


References

{{reflist, 30em 1982 murders in Argentina 1983 murders in Argentina 1984 murders in Argentina 1985 crimes in Argentina Argentine families Argentine people convicted of murder Argentine people of Italian descent Argentine serial killers Crime in Buenos Aires Gangs in Argentina Kidnapping in Argentina Murder in Argentina Operatives of the Dirty War People convicted of kidnapping