Here's Some Background Before You Watch Netflix's Carmel: Who Killed Maria Marta?

On Oct. 27, 2002, Argentinian socialite María Marta García Belsunce was found dead in her home in the gated community of Carmel in Pilar. Or, so the story goes. Reminiscent of The Staircase, Netflix's Carmel: Who Killed Maria Marta? takes a deep dive into the mysteries that plague her death. García Belsunce's husband Carlos Carrascosa initially reported her death as an accident. Everyone went along with his word — that is, until the district attorney requested to exhume her body soon after she was interred. The autopsy found five bullets in García Belsunce's head. Immediately, it was clear that the case was now a matter of foul play. But one question remains looming to this day: Who killed María Marta García Belsunce?

Who Was the Primary Suspect?

Carrascosa was the primary suspect in the case. The night he purportedly found her body, he had come back from watching a football match with his family. When he came home, he found his wife in the bathtub. He concluded that she hit her head in the bathroom and accidentally drowned. Suspiciously, a doctor signed a death certificate that said she died from a "non-traumatic cardiac arrest." Even more suspicious, García Belsunce's husband, brother, brother-in-law, doctor, and masseuse all gathered in the villa to decide what to do after they found her dead. A district attorney requested that her body be exhumed shortly after it was interred — an autopsy found five bullets inside of her head.

One theory that emerged during Carrascosa's trial was that García Belsunce's family was involved in a drug-trafficking ring with a Mexican cartel. García Belsunce either found out about it or wanted to remove herself as a co-conspirator. To keep things quiet, García Belsunce's family supposedly covered up her murder. However, there's not much evidence to support this theory even if the prosecutor pushed it in court. Carrascosa was found guilty in 2009 and sentenced to life. After spending several years in jail, he was eventually acquitted in 2016.

Who Is the Current Suspect?

Investigators have been looking into Nicolás Pachelo, who was then a neighbour, as a potential suspect. He is currently in prison for two robberies, but not García Belsunce's death. García Belsunce's family has long suspected that Pachelo was the person responsible for her death. At the time García Belsunce passed away, Pachelo had a record for robbery and fraud. If it was Pachelo, his motive would likely have been theft. While he had an alibi at the time, three teenage witnesses in 2002 noticed that he was jogging by García Belsunce the day she died.

We might never know what happened the night that García Belsunce died, but Carmel will certainly inspect the evidence that we do have ― catch it when it premieres on Netflix on Nov. 5.