Fernando "Lechuga" Pérez Algaba, 41, was killed when he arrived at a property, called Renacer, in General Rodríguez on July 18, 2023, to collect the first US$20,000 installment of what prosecutors say was a debt of more than $50,000.
Maximiliano Pilepich, who had presented himself as a property developer, was there to meet him. As Pérez Algaba changed a light bulb in an office on the site, two bullets fired from more than half a meter away struck him in the back and tore through his lungs and liver, Argentine outlet Infobae reported.
His body was cut apart and packed into a red suitcase, a backpack and plastic bags, then dumped in the Arroyo del Rey stream in the town of Ingeniero Budge.
Children playing nearby found the first remains on July 23, 2023, and his severed head and torso were recovered days later, Spanish daily El País reported. Investigators identified him from his fingerprints and the distinctive tattoos across his body, according to the Buenos Aires Times.
Pérez Algaba was no obscure victim. He had 900,000 Instagram followers who watched him pose with luxury cars, private jets and yachts.
