A 74-year-old Italian man, Leonardo Bertulazzi, who was convicted for a kidnapping carried out by a far-left militant group in the 1970s, has eluded authorities in Argentina after escaping from house arrest. On Tuesday, Bertulazzi used a harness to abseil down from a fifth-floor balcony in Buenos Aires, evading detection due to his manipulation of an electronic ankle monitor that continued to transmit body temperature measurements even after he had absconded.
The escape was not immediately discovered as officials became suspicious when they noticed the tag had remained stationary. Upon entering the apartment, they found that Bertulazzi had already departed, leaving behind the tampered ankle monitor. The authorities, wary of Bertulazzi's past with the Marxist guerrilla group the Red Brigades and his bomb-making skills, called in explosives experts to ensure safety measures were in place.
Bertulazzi was sentenced in absentia in Italy for the 1977 kidnapping of Italian naval engineer Pietro Costa and had been awaiting extradition. His extradition appeared imminent following the rejection of his last appeal, with Italian media reporting that it was scheduled to take place soon. Bertulazzi was first arrested after entering Argentina from Chile in 2002 but was granted refugee status in 2004 and lived freely until his re-arrest in 2024.
According to Argentine newspaper Clarín, the current right-wing president, Javier Milei, stated that Bertulazzi is responsible for crimes that undermined democratic values and the lives of many victims. As a member of the Red Brigades, Bertulazzi was involved in several high-profile kidnappings and murders during the 1970s and '80s, including the kidnap and murder of Italian former Prime Minister, Aldo Moro, in 1978.