An unemployed man accused of murdering two sex workers has been arrested after a phone number linked him to the killings.
Renato Iván Tabella, 28, was detained in a hotel after detectives traced his movements using mobile phone records and CCTV footage.
He is accused of killing Daniela Villalba, 28, and is also under investigation over the death of Tatiana Micaela Fernández, 27.
READ MORE: Daredevil jet ski-rider hurled into RAGING 20ft floodwater and miraculously survives
Investigators believe the cases may be connected after discovering that both women’s mobile phones were missing and their bodies had been found on beds covered with sheets.
The breakthrough came when detectives realised that the telephone line used by a man who arranged to meet Fernández had already been intercepted as part of the investigation into Villalba’s murder.
The same number had been used to arrange meetings with both women, helping investigators link the cases.
The suspect was arrested at a hotel in central Buenos Aires, Argentina, late on Sunday night (25 Oct).
Officers reportedly seized two mobile phones, cash, four SIM cards and clothing for forensic examination.
Córdoba’s security minister, Juan Pablo Quinteros, said: “This is a person who has no criminal record.”
Tabella had reportedly moved to Córdoba in search of work and had been handing out CVs while unemployed, as reported by Need To Know.
Villalba’s body was discovered in her flat in the Cofico neighbourhood of Córdoba on 21 October after a friend raised the alarm when she could no longer contact her.
She had suffered a fatal wound to the neck, and her body was found covered on the bed.
Investigators later examined a bloodstained suitcase bearing Villalba’s name and a wig, which had been found in a nearby rubbish container.
CCTV footage reportedly showed a man leaving Villalba’s building carrying luggage, helping detectives reconstruct his movements.
Fernández was found dead on a bed in a rented flat in the Retiro district of Buenos Aires on 25 October after a friend went to check on her.
Fernández and her friend, who also worked as a sex worker, shared a temporary rental flat to see clients.
When a man calling himself ‘Iván’ contacted her friend through an Argentine website advertising escort services, the friend was busy with another client and passed the enquiry on to Fernández.
The women arranged to keep in contact during Fernández’s meeting as a safety precaution.
But Fernández stopped answering her friend’s messages during the night.
Worried, her friend went to the flat with a locksmith the following morning and entered at around 8.40am, finding Fernández dead on the bed, covered by a sheet.
Her mobile phone was missing.
A preliminary autopsy reportedly found that Fernández died from “mechanical asphyxia by compression”.
Investigators are examining whether the same suspect was responsible for both deaths, with further forensic tests and questioning expected to help establish the circumstances.
READ MORE: Mum-of-two 24 found dead under bridge after ‘possibly’ falling through gap
