Alejandro Rafael Puccio was an Argentine rugby union footballer and criminal. He played in the Argentinan national rugby union team and became famous because of his participation on a criminal organization dedicated to kidnap, torture and murder wealthy people.
Biography
Alejandro was son of Arquimedes Puccio, an accountant, lawyer and a member from the Argentinian Secretariat of Intelligence during the dictatorship época del National Reorganization Process and son of Epifanía Ángeles Calvo, an accounting and Mathematics professor. Alejandro had two brothers: Daniel and Guillermo and two sisters: Silvia, and Adriana.
Career as a rugby player
He used to play as a 3/4 wing in the Club Atlético de San Isidro and also participated on the Los Pumas. He debuted on the first league in Club Atlético de San Isidro in 1977 at age 19 and where played until his arrest in August 1985. He was convoked in 1979 to play the Southamerican tournament of Rugby. He played a total of five matches and scored three tries. He was champion of the 1979 and also won Torneo de la URBA in 1981, 1982 and 1985.
Criminal career
He was part of an organization dedicated to extortive kidnappings. Along with his father and his brother, Daniel, he kidnapped and murdered three Argentine entrepreneurs between 1982 and 1985. They also kidnapped a woman whose life was saved when the police broke into their house and arrested some of the family members. On 22 July 1982, The Organization kidnapped Ricardo Manoukian, a personal friend of Alejandro, in San Isidro,. They extorted his family to make them pay $250.000 U.S dollars. He was held captive in a bathtub where he remained for 11 days until his murder. On 5 May 1983 they kidnapped Eduardo Aulet, a rugby player and engineer. He was initially held captive in a closet, acknowledging he was claustrophobic and then in the Puccio's house basement. The Puccio family extorted them to obtain $150.000 dollars out of them Even though, both rescues were paid, both men were killed by the family. Arquimedes was arrested by la División Defraudaciones y Estafas de la Argentine Federal Police on 23 August 1985 on a gas station while he was extorting the last victim's family via public phone to get the rescue paid out of the family. Alejandro was arrested that same day, while he was at home with his girlfriend, Mónica Sörvik, maestra jardinera de la Escuela Todos los Santos and then viceheadteacher of the kindergarten Myflower from San Isidro. In the basement, they found the last victim. When Alejandro was arrested, he denied any participation on the organization's criminal activities. Neither his playmates friends nor his girlfriend believed he was guilty. They always defended his innocence. When Alejandro was appointed to state about his pendent crimes, in late 1986, in Palacio de Tribunales, he attempted to kill himself jumping from a fifth floor, inside the building. As a result of this suicide attempt he suffered from convulsions for the rest of his life, from which he was medicated with antipsychotics. On 26 December 1995 he was condemned to perpetual reclusion The initial years, he was visited by his girlfriend, Monica, until he ordered her to stop coming there. Later in the 1990s, he married Nancy Arrat, whom he met on his years imprisoned. In jail, he became friends with Sergio Schoklender. He never accepted any responsibility for the crimes for which he was condemned. He remained imprisoned until 7 April 1997 when he was released thanks to the 2x1 law on bail of half a million pesos. But due to the law's veto he was arrested on 28 September 1999. Alejandro studied psychology and in, September 2000, he was allowed to get out to make labouring activities. After 22 years imprisoned, Alejandro was released from the Buenos Aires Prison located on Florencio Varela department favoured by parole in November 2007. He died a few months after his release, on 27 June 2008, aged 49, after being infected in a Hospital where he had been hospitalized for convulsions. No one attended his funeral.
In popular culture
In 2015 the journalist Rodolfo Palacios published a booked called El Clan Puccio which includes many testimonies from Arquímedes Puccio. In 2015 the Argentinian film directorPablo Trapero adapted the story into a movie, The Clan starring Guillermo Francella as the main protagonist, playing Arquímedes Puccio. Alejandro was portrayed by Peter Lanzani. In 2015 Historia de un clan, a series composed by 11 chapters was released, and was broadcast by Telefé, where Alejandro was portrayed by Ricardo "Chino" Darin.
