Agustín Ramón Martínez Martínez

Agustín Ramón Martínez Martínez (28 August 1961 – 18 May 2024), known as Israeli Soldier (Spanish: Soldado Israelí), was a Paraguayan-Israeli serial killer and fraudster who killed at least six people in Argentina and Paraguay from 1993 to 2018, but was suspected in other murders. For his last murder, he was sentenced to 40 years' imprisonment.

Early life Agustín Ramón Martínez Martínez was born on 28 August 1961, in San Patricio, Misiones Department. He grew up in a Jewish family and moved with them to Israel when he was young. He married there, but eventually returned to Paraguay after his wife died under suspicious circumstances. Interpol later sought to investigate him over the case, but never charged him due to a lack of evidence.

Once in Paraguay, Martínez allegedly began working as a thief and hitman for organized crime groups, and was arrested several times in his home country and in Argentina. During these arrests, he claimed his real name was Yamel Yamil Oskiski (or Fresmann), and that he had served as a mercenary for the IDF during the Gulf War. These claims have never been confirmed, and are widely believed to be fabricated.

Serial murders Martínez committed his first known murder on 31 May 1993, when he shot and killed ranch foreman Pascual Pedro Bianco in Santa Fe, Argentina over a land dispute. Bianco's wife, Nélida Elena Borsatto, was also wounded but survived. After the murder, Martínez dismembered the body and set the remains on fire. He was quickly caught, convicted and sentenced to 8 years' imprisonment, but escaped a year into his sentence and returned to Paraguay. Upon his release, Martínez again returned to Paraguay. A few days later, Martínez, who was working as a business partner and bodyguard for Cabello at the time, was arrested as the main suspect. He was held awaiting trial for the triple murder until 2015, when he was released thanks to a habeas corpus given for a judicial delay, because he had not been given a firm sentence during that time. Cardozo went out in his pickup truck, a Mitsubishi Triton, and picked up Martínez along the Route 1 in Yaguarón. Cardozo's wife, after taking notice of her husband's absence, tracked the truck with a GPS and located it at Martínez's home.

Trial and imprisonment After his arrest, Martínez instantly confessed that he had a hand in Cardozo's disappearance, but denied killing him. According to his claims, an alleged drug trafficker named Lucio Santiago Godoy Quiñónez promised him $10,000 if he delivered the lawyer to him, which he accepted. The men, whom Martínez alleged to be members of the Brazilian criminal group PCC, later tasked him with disposing of the body and the truck. In order to back up his claims, he showed the burial site to the investigators, with the body being recovered a few days later.

Over the course of the investigation, multiple other suspects were arrested on suspicion of being involved in the murder, but investigators eventually ruled out third-party involvement. Due to this, some hypothesized that the actual reason for Cardozo's murder was so Martínez could steal his truck. On his part, Martínez repeatedly professed that he was only guilty of disposing of the body, and later claimed that he was tortured by police officials.

Martínez's trial was postponed a total of eleven times. After it finally started in 2022, he was found guilty of killing Cardozo and sentenced to 40 years' imprisonment. During the sentencing, he reacted violently and attempted to assault the officers guarding him, which resulted in his being subdued and handcuffed.

Death Martínez died at Tacumbú prison in Asunción, on 18 May 2024, at the age of 62. Police sources described it as an "apparent case of sudden death".