“What happens if I inject air into my veins?”: the disturbing Internet searches of a man accused of killing his mother, brother and daughter in Argentina

«What happens if I inject air into the veins?», «What medicine can be taken to cause death?», «How long after introducing air does the heart attack occur?». This was Pablo Damián Grottini’s Internet search history. The man is arrested and accused of killing his mother, his brother and his daughter in the city of San Nicolás de los Arroyos, Argentina.

Prosecutor María Belén Baños, in charge of the investigation, said that the searches made by the suspect on the Internet were the main elements that supported the arrest request.

Internet searches allowed to dictate the arrest warrant

“Searches are found both on the cell phone and on a tablet. By court order, we intervened the email account of the suspect and thus we were able to reconstruct the searches, ”he explained to The nation a qualified source on the case.

On Thursday, judicial sources reported, the suspect was investigated by prosecutor Baños. Grottini refused to answer questions from the representative of the Public Ministry.

According to what La Nación was able to reconstruct, the defendant limited himself to telling how each of the deaths happened. He reproduced what the medical records said and that he accompanied his brother, his daughter and his mother.

Sources of the investigation said that in the house where the suspect lived with his mother, a cup of tea that was stored in the refrigerator was seized. They will analyze it to determine if the drink was contaminated with any substance to make the woman break down.

“The search is about how to kill a person from the introduction of something in the veins. ‘What happens if I inject air into the veins’, ‘what medicine can be taken to cause death’, ‘how soon after introducing air does the heart attack occur’ and similar searches”. This was reported by the prosecutor Baños in statements to the news channel C5N.

The representative of the Public Ministry explained: “We handle the hypothesis that he could have injected them with air in an abundant quantity and sufficient to cause death.”

The investigation began last Saturday at dawn when the doctor on duty at the San Felipe de San Nicolás Hospital, Yamila Fernández, called the prosecutor’s office. She warned that the patient Teresita Di Martino died in a suspicious manner, as explained in a press release from the Public Prosecutor’s Office.

He punctured the IV bag

Still alive, the woman was subjected to a series of studies that gave “normal parameters” as results. She, however, continued to be observed and a serum was placed on her for her hydration.

“He was alone in the care of his son in box number 3 of the hospital guard, which is a closed space, for a single patient. The patient’s health was monitored by medical staff. She was stable, even in condition to be discharged. She did not present any clinical complications and no previous pathologies to keep her hospitalized. She was also not given any medication beyond physiological solution, ”she added in the statement.

But, suddenly, Grottini notified the medical staff that the “serum was losing” (it was thrown away). The nurse on duty confirmed that the line was punctured, crossed from side to side. She changed the serum and observed that the patient’s son had wet clothes, explained judicial sources.

Grottini’s wet clothes were the first clue that alerted medical staff and nurses. An hour and a half later, the patient’s son reported that her mother was asleep. But she, in reality, she was dead.

“The medical staff found that the new serum that the nurse placed was also punctured, this time with a single hole in the hose. In addition, in the box, an open anxiolytic ampoule was found, which was not prescribed for any patient that day. Nor did it correspond to the brand used in the hospital, ”said the sources consulted.

Doctors knew the man from the previous death of his daughter

Until his arrest, the suspect worked as a driver for hearses at the Exequial Servicios company. The doctors, who testified as witnesses before the judicial officials, said they remember Grottini not only because he worked in a funeral home and frequented the hospital, but also because his daughter had died in that same medical center in July of last year.

“All the doctors not only remembered the facts because they were healthy people who died suddenly, but they also remembered the accused and all made references to strange attitudes,” said the prosecutor in the aforementioned interview.

Baños confirmed that Grottini and the three victims lived together at the same address in the town of Villa General Savio, Ramallo district. And that both the family and the people around him cannot believe it, they are dismayed and that only now some neighbors remember some suspicious attitudes.

“He is a kind, helpful person, that is how they describe him,” commented the judicial official. Who later confirmed that Grottini worked in a funeral company and is also a minister of worship of the Catholic Church.

*The Grupo de Diarios América (GDA), to which El Nacional belongs, is a leading media network founded in 1991 that promotes democratic values, an independent press and freedom of expression in Latin America through quality journalism for our audiences.