70-year-old killer of pregnant wife emerges from rainforest 22 years after escaping jail because statute of limitations ran out

A 70-year-old man convicted of killing his pregnant wife has emerged from the Argentinian rainforest he’s been living in since he escaped prison more than 20 years ago.

Ramón Ángel Abregú, 70, re-entered Tierra del Fuego — an archipelago near the southern tip of the country — this week after crossing four border points, two in Argentina and two in Chile, without papers, according to local outlet Clarín.

Abregú lived undetected in the Chaco Salteño jungle following his February 2001 escape, reappearing after his crime’s statute of limitations ran out.

He arrived at the Criminal Trial Court in Río Grande to ask for a prescription of the case, which indicates a statute of limitations.

“The statute of limitations is 20 years, which is the time in which he managed to remain a fugitive living in hiding,” his lawyer Alejandro De la Riva told the local outlet.

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“He served his sentence that way.”

Abregú was sentenced to 20 years in prison in September 2000 for shooting his seven-months-pregnant wife Eva Falcón four times in a Rio Grande medical clinic in January of that year.

He was convicted of femicide, an intentional killing with gender-related motivations.

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Months after his sentencing, Abregú escaped to Chile on a truck heading toward the Sebastián Border Crossing. 

He would later reenter the country and lived in the Northern Province in the forest, according to Clarín.

He managed to escape prison by taking advantage of security deficiencies, the local outlet said.

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There were three officers guarding 23 inmates at the time.

By the time Abregú’s absence was noticed during shift change, he had been gone half the day.

It is unclear if Abregú will walk free to live the remaining years of his life within society.

He is currently detained in the Río Grande Detention Unit while his defense requests his release.

Sources close to the prosecutor’s office said his release is “not so automatic” as there are legal issues surrounding his case.