The doctor who signed Diego Maradona’s death certificate testified that the football legend had been dead for approximately two hours when he arrived at the scene, based on observable signs of rigor mortis and lividity.
Juan Carlos Pinto, a physician with the emergency medical company +Vida, stated during the ongoing trial in San Isidro that upon reaching Maradona’s residence in the Tigre country club following a “code red” emergency call at 12:15 p.m. On November 25, 2020, he found the former Napoli and Barcelona star already deceased.
“When I arrived, the patient presented signs of ‘mandibular rigidity’ and ‘cadaveric lividity’,” Pinto testified, according to court proceedings. “These are bluish patches that appear in the body approximately two hours after death.”
Pinto explained that lividity becomes fixed between five and six hours postmortem, noting that in Maradona’s case, the patterns had not shifted, indicating the body had not been moved after death. “If someone had died just moments before and the body was moved, the lividity could shift to another area. In this case, it did not,” he stated.
The physician described Maradona’s physical condition upon arrival: an obese, severely edematous patient with a markedly swollen face, particularly in the lower limbs and a distended abdomen. He emphasized that such swelling develops gradually over hours or days, not instantaneously.
“What we have is not something that occurs suddenly,” Pinto said. “The abdominal swelling, or ascitis, can stem from various causes, including cardiac, hepatic, or renal insufficiency.” He added that in cases of heart failure, edema typically manifests in the legs — consistent with what was observed in Maradona.
The official autopsy concluded that Maradona died from acute pulmonary edema secondary to a reactivation of chronic heart failure.
Pinto affirmed that his testimony remained consistent with his earlier statements in the initial trial, which was annulled in May 2025 due to judicial misconduct involving one of the presiding judges.
Prosecutor Patricio Ferrari has argued that multiple warning signs were ignored by Maradona’s medical team during his home hospitalization. “While Maradona was gasping for air in three liters of fluid, the silence was lethal and criminal indifference made them all accomplices,” Ferrari stated during the trial’s opening.
Gianinna Maradona, one of the footballer’s daughters, testified that she had warned her father’s personal physician, neurosurgeon Leopoldo Luque, about the visible swelling. The prosecution also presented a message sent by Maradona’s masseuse to Luque on November 17, 2020, which read: “You need to come… He’s very swollen, Dieguito, his eyes are swollen like udders.”
Seven of the eight originally accused health professionals are being retried on charges of simple homicide with eventual intent, a crime punishable by 8 to 25 years in prison. The defendants include psychiatrist Agustina Cosachov, psychoanalyst Carlos Díaz, Swiss Medical coordinator Nancy Forlini, physician Pedro Di Spagna, nursing coordinator Mariano Perroni, and nurse Ricardo Almirón.
The trial continues before Oral Criminal Tribunal No. 7 in San Isidro, with judges Alberto Gaig, Alberto Ortolani, and Pablo Rolón presiding. Hearings are scheduled for Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 10 a.m. To 5 p.m.
As the judicial process unfolds, it revisits the circumstances surrounding Maradona’s final hours and the accountability of those entrusted with his care.
Stay updated on developments in this case through official court channels and trusted news outlets.
