Mystery surrounds death of Rio Negro governor Carlos Soria as authorities claim his own gun was murder weapon
Mystery surrounds the death of Rio Negro province's ruling party governor Carlos Soria, who was shot in the head, from his own handgun, in his bedroom after an apparent argument with his wife on Monday.
Susana Freydoz remains sedated in a relative's home, and has yet to give a formal statement about what happened early on New Year's Day, said the judge overseeing the case, Juan Pablo Chirinos.
Police tested Freydoz for evidence that she fired the gun, but she was not detained. She also underwent a medical examination. Chirinos said he has yet to see the results.
Soria was buried on Sunday night as about 1,500 people marched in his honour in the provincial town of General Roca, where he had served as mayor for eight years before becoming governor in December.
An official description of Soria's death released the courts late Sunday left many questions unanswered.
"Dr. Carlos Soria was the victim of a single gunshot, to the head, from which he died a few minutes later," duty Judge Emilio Stadler wrote.
Soria led the province's Peronist Justicialist party and won election by a wide margin in October, displacing the Radical party that had long controlled the province. Soria will be succeeded by his vice-governor, Alberto Weretilneck, who was described in local media as closer to President Cristina Fernandez and her ruling Front for Victory.
Soria came up through the more conservative wing of the Peronist party, allying himself with former presidents Carlos Menem and Eduardo Duhalde. He was photographed sharing a friendly meal with Nazi war criminal Erich Priebke, who lived openly in the Rio Negro city of Bariloche for 50 years before being extradited and tried in Italy. While serving as Duhalde's intelligence service chief, he was accused by Fernandez of spying on her husband Nestor Kirchner.
Soria's son Martin, who replaced him as mayor of General Roca, made no immediate statement about his father's death. The couple also had three other children: German, Carlos and Emilia. Emilia and her boyfriend also spent the night in the Soria family home, and also were examined for gunshot residue. Emilia Soria has the right to decline to testify under Argentine law, given her close relationship with both parents, the judge said.