Argentinian boy confesses to killing best friend during school lunch break

A 13-year-old Argentinian boy was arrested after he allegedly confessed to beating his best friend to death during their school lunch break, according to local reports.

The arrest came after the body of Joaquín Sperani, 14, was found in an abandoned house days after his parents reported him missing when he didn’t return home on June 29.

Joaquín was last seen leaving his school at lunchtime alongside his friend in the small town of Laboulaye, Argentina, about 200 miles south of Córdoba.

Security footage from that day shows the pair walking side-by-side and smiling, then entering the house where Joaquín’s body was later found.

Soon after, the unnamed suspect emerged without Joaquín, and then returned to school for the rest of the day where the victim’s bike remained tethered, according to La Nacion.

“That boy is a psychopath. He was a lifelong friend of Joaquín,” the victim’s distraught mother, Mariela Flores, told Télam.

“They went to elementary school together. They were there at each other’s birthday parties.”

As police spent two days searching the area for Joaquín, his friend allegedly lied to police with bogus information about where he might be. Three days later, a neighbor searching with relatives of Joaquín checked the abandoned house and discovered the body.

“We were walking with two of his cousins and we passed an abandoned house. We went inside and as soon as we entered, we saw the corpse,” the neighbor told outlets.

“The cousins started screaming. It was like a horror movie. I saw the body and I couldn’t believe it. After that, we called the police and they took us out of the place.”

Authorities determined Joaquín had received at least 10 blows to the head so violent that he was likely killed instantly.

His best friend reportedly confessed to killing Joaquín shortly after the body was discovered. He remains in juvenile detention, but is too young to be charged criminally.

A motive for the killing remains unclear, and Joaquín’s family have been left baffled.

“I don’t understand it. It is very hard to grasp, I just don’t get it. I want to know why he did it, but I don’t have the answer,” his father, Martin Sperani, said.

Flores’ best guess so far is that the suspect “was in love” with her son, and that he may have had an accomplice.

“I have a feeling that there is more to it and that he was not the only one responsible, that there were more involved,” she said, according to La Nacion.

“I want to see the full footage, I want to know who he crossed paths with.” 

Joaquín’s body was buried in a funeral Monday, but authorities exhumed it a day later to continue their investigation.