Elderly Kidnapping Convict Escapes House Arrest in Argentina Via Balcony

Leonardo Bertulazzi, a former member of the far-left Red Brigades militant group, used a harness to lower himself from a fifth-floor apartment in Buenos Aires while awaiting extradition to Italy. He manipulated his electronic ankle monitor so that it continued transmitting body temperature measurements, delaying the discovery of his escape. Authorities became suspicious when the tracking device remained completely stationary. Upon entering the residence, police found the monitor left behind alongside evidence of tampering, though explosives experts confirmed the device had not been rigged. Bertulazzi had previously spent decades as a fugitive after being sentenced in absentia for the 1977 kidnapping of an Italian naval engineer.