Yiya Murano: Death at Tea Time (Yiya Murano: Muerte a la hora del té)

You've seen the title across the screen.

Yiya Murano is free, and she's here today,

joining us in the studio.

And, of course, I'm sure some of you might remember Yiya

from those headlines nearly 17 years ago

that said "Yiya Murano, The Poisoner of Monserrat."

"YIYA" MURANO, THE POISONER

THE "POISONER"

THE POISONER'S CRIMES

Yiya's here, telling us she's innocent.

I haven't killed anyone.

And I will say that until the day I die.

-You've never killed anyone. -I've never killed.

When you think about Yiya's story,

it's so unique that one can only think of it as fiction.

No, the reality of it is even stranger than fiction.

A DANGEROUS FRIEND

Yiya, how do you think people can actually believe you're innocent

when the justice system has found you guilty?

You're on parole,

and your own son says you've killed two of your friends and a cousin.

I've told you already that my son has crucified me.

Martín Murano is the son of Yiya Murano,

who is popularly known as the "Poisoner of Monserrat."

Mm-hmm.

Every single thing I've ever done

in my life

was so I wouldn't be Yiya Murano's son,

but just Martín Murano.

And it never worked out. It never did.

What are the things that you can't forget?

Being the son of someone who killed people.

Yiya wanted to be famous, and she did it in the most gruesome way.

There's a Yiya Murano who's part of some type of legend by now.

- Yes. -Who everyone thinks they know.

And they've made you into "The Poisoner."

SODIUM CYANIDE

MYSTERIOUS PASTRIES

CYANIDE AT TEA TIME

Martín Murano, you've said some truly awful things about your mother.

I have.

I thought to myself, "Why did he choose to talk about me in that way?"

I mean, has he forgotten I'm his mother?

That I'm Yiya Murano?

For me, it's one of the most unusual cases

in Argentina's criminal history.

I wanted to put an end to Yiya's story.

What did I do instead?

Let's welcome Mrs. Yiya Murano. Come on out. Please, come in.

I immortalized her.

-Hello, Mirtha. How are you? -Good afternoon.

Welcome to our show.

Thank you very much.

- How have you been? - Well.

Well, please take a seat.

YIYA MURANO DEATH AT TEA TIME

How are you all doing? Good? That's great!

Next Friday, we will have a very special show for you.

We have invited five mothers,

who, with their love, sacrifice, and dedication will represent all mothers.

MARCH 24

It will be a show where affection and care will take center stage.

Today we have a brown linen tablecloth,

decorated with white Beauvais stitch embroidery.

The napkins, a light chestnut color.

The centerpiece is made of two-tone croton,

feathery ferns, and yellow chrysanthemums.

And the bouquets are made with roses.

Beautiful and pink.

Stunning. Very well.

Now, let me tell you about my outfit.

Today, I'm wearing a white silk dress with printed designs in blue.

It's quite beautiful.

An exclusive design by Marilú Bragance, to whom we give special thanks.

The shoes I'm wearing today are blue sandals,

in the same color as the print of the dress, as you can see.

Some light makeup.

Hairstyle by Roberto Giordano.

And now, ladies and gentlemen, please, if you would be so kind,

join me in welcoming our first guest, Mrs. Silvia.

-How are you, my dear? -

Mema? Mema!

Mema, are you okay? What's wrong? Mema, wake up!

Pepe! Help me!

Pepe! Pepe! Pepe!

Have a seat.

I'm Horacio Romeo, retired officer from the Argentine Federal Police.

I was in the Homicide Division. I was in charge of the judicial sector.

At the time, I was serving as the judicial officer when the judge on duty called,

asking me to come to the office.

A new case had come in, and he wanted to brief me on the details.

NATIONAL CRIMINAL TRIAL COURT

It was a suspicious death,

but it had nothing that was really out of the ordinary.

SUSPICIOUS DEATH

Pepe! Mema!

- Mrs. Venturini felt suffocated. -I just found her!

-She went outside and lost consciousness. -Doctor!

-The neighbors intervened. -Doctor!

-Come here! -Hurry up!

One of the neighbors, a doctor, even gave her mouth-to-mouth resuscitation

and a cardiac massage

while they called an ambulance from a nearby hospital.

- Call an ambulance! -Pepe! Hurry!

It's something quite common in a sudden death.

-Mema, please, wake up. - Non-traumatic cardiac arrest.

Wake up, please!

And the autopsy certified it had been a natural death.

THE AUTOPSY CONCLUSIONS

ACUTE DILATED CARDIOMYOPATHY ACUTE PULMONARY EDEMA

The truth is that I began an investigation in the Homicide Division,

but without any actual expectations.

Excuse me.

Please, sit.

Thank you.

All right. Name, please?

César Augusto Caso.

DOCTOR

SUPER

A NEIGHBOR

I was cooking, and I heard a horrible noise outside.

And so at one point…

Everyone said it had been something normal.

That she had fallen and hurt herself.

That's when I saw Mema, who was unconscious.

There was no suspicion of a crime or anything that might've suggested one.

But the judge asked me to summon her daughter.

-See what she said. -Name, please?

Diana María Venturini.

To me, my mom is a key figure in this story.

She's what we could call the driving force behind the investigation.

MEMA VENTURINI'S GRANDSON

She created the possibility of bringing everything out in the open.

I was working at the time, and a neighbor called me,

saying that my mom was unwell and they had called an ambulance.

What I felt at that moment, you know, being so young

and seeing all of it happen, was fear.

MEMA VENTURINI'S GRANDDAUGHTER

Because I kept thinking, "My grandma is still a very young woman."

"She's very strong."

That whole thing about her falling. That she had fallen down the stairs.

How did that happen?

I think that was the first sign

that something really odd was actually happening.

Come on, Mema, wake up! Come on!

And in that exact moment,

a relative of the deceased arrives at the scene.

María de las Mercedes Bernardina Bolla Ponte de Murano.

"Yiya."

Picture the scene. Venturini's in the hallway…

REPORTER

…surrounded by neighbors who don't know what's going on,

and Yiya comes in carrying some pastries.

A TALL, BLONDE, ELEGANT WOMAN

SHE WAS CARRYING A PACKAGE OF PASTRIES

She had a package of pastries to eat with the deceased.

Everyone knew her. She visited often.

She had been there the night before.

As soon as she got there, Yiya asked if she was alive,

if she was going to survive.

-If she had said anything. -Did she say anything?

Is she dead or alive?

No, they were trying to bring her back. She wasn't dead.

- You have keys? -Wake up!

Keys to what?

So Yiya says, "Okay, then. Let's go into her apartment

to check if there's a notebook with her daughter Diana's phone number."

So they go.

But in the end, she doesn't even call her,

because she goes into the apartment,

and instead of looking for the notebook with the number,

she makes sure to grab a piece of paper.

Make sure to check.

See if that notebook by the phone has her daughter Diana's number in it.

- We welcome a special couple… -Diana?

- This is mine. Diana. - Please come in!

-Welcome. -Find anything? Under D?

So then, my mom says, "How odd was what Yiya did?"

"Going into the apartment. What was she looking for?"

"Oh, she came for the IOU slips."

That same night, she went back to the police station

to say that she was very angry,

because her relative took advantage of the fact that her mother was dying,

and instead of worrying about her, went to retrieve the IOU slip she'd left her,

just so she wouldn't have to pay her debt.

-Yiya. Her name's Yiya. - Last name?

Murano. Yiya Murano.

-She owed my mom lots of money. -

Her daughter knew perfectly well that Yiya owed her mother a large sum of money,

and she was increasingly insisting that Yiya repay her

because she wanted to buy a house.

Because of that new statement, they order Yiya to be brought in.

-I don't understand why I'm here. - How are you, ma'am?

Good afternoon.

What can you tell me

about the death of Zulema del Giorgio de Venturini?

My cousin Mema.

-She had… - We brought her in.

We interrogated her about it.

She denies it and says she didn't take any slips.