Carmel: Who Killed Maria Marta? Episode 4 recap: ‘To Tell a Story’

Despite all of the suspects and evidence, Who Killed Maria Marta Episode 4 establishes that the mystery of the murder persists to this day.

In the final episode of Carmel: Who Killed Maria Marta?, “To Tell a Story,” the docuseries explores what made this particular case so famous in Argentina. It’s really a tale as old as time, and it comes down to one key player: the media.

When major crimes occur in places where no crime is ever supposed to happen, it’s unsettling, and it draws people in. Add that to the fact a distinguished family was at the epicenter, and one member of the family actually went to jail on charges, and it created a shake-up.  People are accustomed to the rich getting away with everything, and then here comes Carlos Carrascosa getting put behind bars.

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Speaking of Carlos, after he was acquitted of the murder charges, Prosecutor Molina Pico filed for an appeal, and the courts reversed their decision, charging Carlos with Maria’s murder and sentencing him to life in prison. It created a media firestorm as various outlets competed to find the juiciest angle, including alleging the family had mob ties.

During his time in prison, Carlos had a radio show and would talk about his life and his health problems. It made him more relatable to people who felt that a normal guy like him could not have killed his wife.

While most people believed Carlos was guilty at first, he later earned tons of support from people who believed him to be innocent. Outside of jail, Pico pursued a line of investigation into Guillermo Bartoli and Irene Hurtig.

The family remained in the spotlight as they tried to fight for Carlos’s freedom and appeared on television talkshow to argue that the prosecution refused to follow up on any other investigatory lead outside of their family, such as allegations that the perimeter alarm and security cameras had been turned off the day of the murder and that a car with a fake license plate had been granted entry.

Carmel: Who Killed Maria Marta? Episode 4 recap: The second trial

In 2011, the second trial began. Prosecutor Laura Zyseskind led this trial against the Garcia Belsunce family, the first doctor Gauvry Gordon and the masseuse Beatriz Michelini. The family was accused of participating in a cover-up to hide that a violent murder had occurred from the prosecution and police by tampering with the crime scene and discarding evidence.

One week before the trial began, Irene was arrested for being a co-conspirator on Maria’s death, based on Pico’s theory. The presiding judge annuls the warrant and says that they can instead call Irene in for questioning — which never happened. From then on, the co-conspirator theory fell apart.

At the second trial, Beatriz was called in for having helped clean up the scene after the family led them to believe she had been there early on, at 7:00 p.m., when in reality, she was waiting at the entrance gate until later and testified that she had not arrived until later after the first ambulance call had been made. She had completely changed her story.

Beatriz also claimed that she did clean up because she didn’t know what had happened, for she had stepped into a “carefully staged scene.” According to Carlos, he heard all of this for the first time on the radio and was stunned that Beatriz had recanted and changed her testimony.

Ultimately, the group was convicted and sentenced to four years in prison for an aggravated cover-up, except for Beatriz, who was acquitted. As Pico notes, he felt validated by this because it proved he wasn’t just “fixating on the family” as people have said, since a prosecutor completely outside of his bubble had followed the same path he had.

During the 2011 trial, another bombshell was revealed. Maria Marta had fractured ribs from CPR compressions, but the fractured ribs had no blood, meaning she had died at least an hour earlier, at 6:30 at the latest. That time does not match with when Carlos was there, and therefore he conceivably could not have done it.

That information led to Carlos being acquitted and proven innocent after spending seven years in prison, the last two under house arrest.

Carmel: Who Killed Maria Marta? Episode 4 recap: Returning to Nicolas Pachelo

With Carlos acquitted, many people returned to Nicolas Pachelo as the prime suspect. While Carlos was in prison, Nicolas tried to rebuild himself, thinking there was no chance he’d get drawn back into the case. He became a well-known poker player. But he was involved with other investigations over the years, including one that connected him to selling drugs at raves and another reminiscent of Maria Marta’s case, including burglaries taking place in gated communities.

In 2017, one year after Carlos’s acquittal, he was caught on camera by his half-siblings from whom he is estranged for burglarizing houses similar to those in Carmel. Two new prosecutors took over and changed their focus to Pachelo, who became the sole suspect. It is believed that the new prosecution team could convict Pachelo during a new trial. Still, it doesn’t necessarily add up, as one of the journalists point out. Why would the family clean up the murder scene? Flush the bullet? Get a fake death certificate?

Also, according to the docuseries, Carlos has not been entirely acquitted yet. Once he reaches the “final acquittal,” he could sue the people who put him in jail for misjudging him. Carlos thinks that’s the reason they’re trying to appeal his complete acquittal. It’s all a little confusing. But if Pachelo were to be charged amid all of that, it would paint those two men as co-conspirators, which doesn’t make much sense either.

There are also many unanswered questions, why did Pico bring up the “handprint” he saw on the wall and not mention it again? Could they not get fingerprints on anything? Did no one in the community hear the gunshots?

It has been 18 years since Maria’s murder, and it looks like we’re not much closer to knowing the entire truth about what happened to her. Hopefully, one day, that will change, and Maria’s story can finally be told, and her memory is put to rest.

Other notes from the final episode of Who Killed Maria Marta?

• Horacio, John Hurtig, and Sergio Bentillo were acquitted for their conviction in February 2020. Bartoli passed away in 2014 before his appeal could be processed. Gauvry Gordon was acquitted in 2015 due to delays in the process.
• Irene Hurtig went on to study criminal justice after her husband’s death.
• Carlos’s acquittal has been appealed by the Buenos Aires Province Public Prosecution Ministry.
• Diego Molina Pico is still working as a prosecutor.
• A new trial will be held for the murder of Maria Marta with Nicolas Pachelo and two watchmen as the main defendants.

After watching all four episodes, what did you think of Carmel: Who Killed Maria Marta? Let us know your thoughts and theories in the comments below!

All four episodes of Carmel: Who Killed Maria Marta? are now streaming on Netflix.