An Argentine woman was confronted by an angry crowd when she married her twin sister's killer on Valentine's Day.
Edith Casas, 22, wed Victor Cingolani yesterday in a ceremony taking place less than a year into the groom's 13-year sentence for the murder of model Johana Casas.
The bride was pelted with stones and eggs as she emerged from the register office, while her husband, disguised in sunglasses and a beret, was rushed out of the back door to his cell.
The couple married in Pico Truncade in southern Argentina, the same city where Johana was shot twice in the head days before her 20th birthday in July 2010.
Her body was found on the outskirts of the city, which lies around 1,200 miles from the capital Buenos Aires, and Cingolani, an ex-boyfriend, was convicted of murder in June last year.
Cingolani was convicted of murder in June last year, when a court found he was a 'willing participant' in the killing.
According to The Independent, he told a local news channel on the morning of the wedding: 'I’m getting married because I love Edith. I didn’t think the wedding would have so many repercussions worldwide.'
Cingolani claims he is innocent and is appealing against the conviction. Another man, Marco Diaz, who was sharing a house with Johana when she died, is also accused of the kill and will be tried in May.
Edith also argues her husband is innocent, and last year said: 'I’m going to get married to the person I love and not the person who killed my sister.'
She added: 'Victor is not a violent person and I’m not mad. We’ve got no doubts about what we’re doing. We love each other.'
The couple, who have been together for five years, had planned to Wed last December but a judge, Gabriela Zapat, ordered it to be suspended at the last minute following a request by the twins' mother, Marcelina
Edith was ordered to undergo psychological testing before the ceremony could be given the go ahead, and the date was set when doctors found no signs of 'mental dysfunction'.
Cingolani's sister and brother-in-law acted as witnesses during the 20-minute ceremony but Edith's relatives, who have disowned her, shunned the service.
Her family have said Edith is guilty of a 'terrible betrayal', and her fatherValentín Casas told Clarín newspaper in December: 'Johana is with God and Edith is with the Devil.'
Marcelina has claimed her daughter is suffering psychological problems and said she feared Cingolani would take her life too.
She said: 'There are no words to describe what Edith is going to do. She’s guilty of a terrible betrayal.'
Lucas Chacon, Cingolani’s defence lawyer, has previously insisted: 'The cigarette butts found near Johana’s body belonged to Diaz and all the witnesses have incriminated him.
'I can understand Johana’s parents’ attitude. But Edith is not marrying a killer or anything like it.
'She is marrying a man who was convicted in a judicial scandal. All we want is justice.'
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