Arquímedes Puccio

Arquímedes Rafael Puccio (14 September 1929 in Barracas, Buenos Aires – 4 May 2013 in General Pico, La Pampa) nicknamed "The crazy sweeper (in Spanish: El loco de la escoba)" was an Argentinian accountant, lawyer, entrepreneur, SIDE member and member of the Argentine Anticommunist Alliance, he also led the Batallón de Inteligencia 601 and participated in the Tacuara nacionalist movement. He was mainly known for being the leader of the Puccio Clan, a criminal organization famous for abducting and murdering three entrepreneurs: Ricardo Manoukian, Eduardo Aulet and Emilio Naum. He was captured along with other clan members while trying to collect the ransom for their fourth victim, the funerary establishment owner and entrepreneur Nélida Bollini de Prado.

Arquimedes had five children: Alejandro, player of the Argentina national rugby union team, Silvia, Daniel (Maguila), Guillermo and Adriana. He also collaborated with his former workmates: retired colonel Rodolfo Victoriano Franco, Guillermo Fernández Laborda, Gustavo Contepomi, Roberto Díaz.

Biography Arquimedes was born on 14 September 1929 in a Buenos Aires neighbourhood, Barracas. He was the oldest of six brothers. He had four brothers and one sister: Salvador, César, Rómulo, Augusto, and Beatriz. His father was Juan Puccio, Chancellor's press officer of Juan Atilio Bramuglia. Shortly they bought a house in the wealthy neighbourhood of San Isidro, which also be the same house where the victims were held captive.

On June 20, 1973, Puccio, Laborda, Díaz and Franco met in Ezeiza on the day of Perón's definitive return to Argentina. that governed the country from 1976 to 1983, there were numerous cases of extortive kidnappings perpetrated by police or members of the army.

The Puccio Clan El clan was made up as a limited company (anonymous society) who was the house owner. The clan was formed by Arquímedes Puccio, Fernández Laborda, colonel Franco, Puccio's children, and as trustee, the accountant Revuelta, who was not arrested for lack of evidence. Revuelta was also the accountant for the Gotelli family, one of whom had also been kidnapped.

The clan appeared to be an ordinary family. None of their acquaintances suspected them. The clan planned to kidnap about ten people, according to a list written on a piece of paper the police found when they raided the Puccio house when the clan was dismantled. He was held captive for 11 days, bound hand and foot and hooded in the bathtub on the first floor, with the bathroom's curtain closed. His family, owner of the supermarket chain Tanti, paid a rescue fee of US$250,000 ($663,582.90 as of 2019). Even though his family paid for the freedom of his son, Manoukian was murdered on 30 July 1982, being shot three times on the head. His corpse was thrown away in a river close to Escobar. His remains were found months later in Benavídez.

Arrest On 23 August 1985, the police broke into the Puccios' house. When they had already kidnapped their fourth and last victim, Nélida Bollini de Prado, aged 58, who had been held captive for one month. Before the discovery, authorities had already been suspicious about the family (without knowing their responsibility in the three previous crimes).

The women, the mother, the daughters and Alejandro's girlfriend denied knowing everything, but the judge in the case, María Servini de Cubría, was struck by the fact that none of them were surprised or asked what had happened. According to the judge, the only one who could not be held responsible was the younger daughter, but the rest could not ignore it.

Sentencing and liberation Puccio never admitted any participation in the crimes but always claimed to be a patriot and the victim of political persecution. Arquímedes Puccio was taken to the Instituto Correccional Abierto de General Pico La Pampa, after having his house arrest revoked, as he had infringed its conditions. There, in General Pico he obtained a new parole, so he continued to live there, where he worked as a lawyer, after obtaining a law degree in La Pampa. Shortly after, he moved to an evangelical priest house and after cohabiting with a younger woman, he moved to a retirement center, where spent his last years.

Final years and death Arquímedes Puccio died on 4 May 2013 in General Pico at age 83 due to a complications from a stroke.

Arquimedes Puccio in the popular culture The Argentinian film director, Pablo Trapero directed a movie called El Clan based on the criminal story of the Puccio family. The movie was protagonized by Guillermo Francella who portrays Arquimedes and Juan Pedro Lanzani, it was released on 13 August 2015 in Argentina and it was the highest-grossing movie of 2015 in the country. While mostly true to the facts, the movie has some inaccuracies, Daniel "Maguila" is not shown from the beginning of the movie when he participated, in all kidnappings.

In 2015, a series consisting of 11 chapters, called Historia de un clan, was broadcast in Telefé.