real life

Edith married the man convicted of killing her identical twin, Johana. He was in prison at the time.

 

In 2013, Edith Casas married the man convicted of murdering her identical twin sister.

It was not exactly a dream wedding. One of the witnesses was a jail guard. The bride was pelted with rocks and eggs immediately afterwards.

So why did Edith want to marry Victor Cingolani, who was one year into his sentence for murdering her sister Johana?

Johana, a model, was just days away from her 20th birthday when she died, in August 2010. Her body was found in a field near Pico Truncado, in Argentina. She had been shot twice in the head.

Two people were arrested over Johana’s murder. One was Cingolani, who was her former boyfriend. The other was the man she was living with at the time of her death, Marco Diaz. Johana and Diaz had been seen together at a party just hours before her body was found.

At the time of Johana’s death, Cingolani was dating Edith, and had been for some time.

In June 2012, Cingolani was convicted of Johana’s murder and sentenced to 13 years in jail. Diaz had not yet been tried for the crime.

Cingolani’s lawyer, Lucas Chacon, lodged an appeal.

Edith remained convinced of Cingolani’s innocence, insisting that he was “a guy who would not hurt a fly”. She visited him in prison, and they agreed to get married.

Cingolani maintained that his relationship with Johana had been “casual”, but he was in love with Edith.

“We have lots of things in common and she isn’t jealous,” Cingolani was quoted as saying in Argentine newspaper Clarin. “We always talk about Johana, about how she was.”

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Edith Casas
"We always talk about Johana, about how she was." Image: Facebook.

Edith’s parents, Marcelina del Carmen Orellana and Valentin Casis, were horrified.

Her mother tried to stop the wedding, claiming that Edith was “not in full control of her mental faculties”. A judge ordered a psychological evaluation to be carried out before the wedding could go ahead. The evaluation showed that Edith was mentally competent of making decisions.

“Victor is not a violent person and I’m not mad,” Edith announced. “We’ve got no doubts about what we’re doing. We love each other.”

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Chacon said Edith was not marrying a killer.

“The cigarette butts found near Johana’s body belonged to Diaz and all the witnesses have incriminated him,” he told media. “She is marrying a man who was convicted in a judicial scandal. All we want is justice.”

Her parents remained unconvinced.

“There are no words to describe what Edith is going to do,” her mother said. “She’s guilty of a terrible betrayal.”

Her father disowned her. “For me, they are both dead,” he said. “Johana is with God, and Edith is with the Devil.”

On Valentine’s Day 2013, Edith and Cingolani got married in a civil registry office near the prison where Cingolani was serving his sentence.

“I would have loved it if my wedding had been peaceful,” Cingolani told a journalist. “I don't want any mess. I understand the situation in her family. But they have to understand me in that what I do, I do for love.”

Cingolani wore sunglasses and a beret to the ceremony to disguise himself, and was taken out the back door afterwards, to be returned to his cell. Edith walked out the front of the building and faced the wrath of the crowd.

There’s a twist to this story. In December 2013, Cingolani’s appeal was successful. He was released from jail.

According to their Facebook pages, Edith and Cingolani are still married and enjoying their life together. It looks like they did get their happy ever after, after all.