Fernando Báez Sosa’s Killers Now. Inside Their Lives 5 Years After Beating Him to Death in Less Than a Minute

A new Netflix docuseries, 50 Seconds: The Fernando Báez Sosa Case, revisits the brutal killing of 18-year-old law student Fernando Báez Sosa — a young man beaten to death in less than a minute outside a nightclub in Argentina. Five years later, the eight rugby players convicted in connection with his death are serving long prison sentences across the country, while Fernando’s family continues to grieve and seek justice.

Fernando was the only child of Paraguayan immigrants and a promising law student from Buenos Aires when his life was cut short in January 2020. His murder shocked Argentina, drew international attention and has since become known as the “crime of Villa Gesell.”

Below is a look at who Fernando was, what happened that night, how investigators built the case — and where the men convicted of killing him are now.

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Who Was Fernando Báez Sosa?

Born in 2001, Fernando was the cherished only son of Graciela Sosa and Silvino Báez, Paraguayan immigrants who settled with him in the Recoleta neighborhood of Buenos Aires. According to Clarín, he attended a local high school on scholarship, where he excelled academically and was active in sports, including soccer and volleyball.

After finishing high school, Fernando enrolled at the University of Buenos Aires to study law. He and his girlfriend, Julieta Rossi — whom he met in high school — both passed the Common Basic Cycle and planned to continue their university studies together, as her mother shared with Infobae in January 2020.

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What Happened the Night Fernando Was Killed?

In January 2020, Fernando traveled with Julieta and a group of friends to Villa Gesell, a popular seaside vacation spot in Argentina. They arrived on Jan. 16 and, two days later, planned a night out at Le Brique nightclub, according to the Sistema Argentino de Información Juridica.

The group entered the club around 1:30 a.m. on Jan. 18. At about 4:30 a.m., one of Fernando’s friends accidentally bumped into a member of a group of young rugby players from Zárate, Buenos Aires. A verbal confrontation followed. The rugby group was kicked out of the club, while Fernando and some of his friends also chose to leave.

Because several of Fernando’s friends were still inside, he and the others decided to wait nearby and get something to eat. Around 4:45 a.m., two of the rugby players — Enzo Comelli and Ciro Pertossi — spotted Fernando and his friends on the street.

Out of the 11 young men in the rugby group, eight focused their attack on Fernando. Some of them punched and kicked him, while others prevented his friends from stepping in to defend him. The assault lasted between 45 and 50 seconds.

“They were a beating machine, they didn’t care about anything,” an eyewitness told local television channel Todo Noticias, as reported by the BBC.

The attack was recorded by several bystanders — and even by one of the suspects — and the footage quickly spread on social media. In one video, prosecutors said, Máximo Pablo Thomsen can be heard telling Fernando to “stand up and fight,” while another attacker, Matías Franco Benicelli, hurls a racist slur at him.

According to prosecutors, five of the eight rugby players “approached Fernando Báez from behind, taking advantage of the fact that he had his back turned and was defenceless, and … by virtue of their numerical and physical superiority, they surrounded him, rushed at him and began to strike him with their fists to his face and body,” per the Buenos Aires Times.

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What Was Fernando’s Cause of Death?

After the attack, local officers quickly arrived and attempted CPR on Fernando, the Buenos Aires Times reported. He was taken to a hospital in Alta Gracia, but he had already died from his injuries.

An autopsy later determined that Fernando died as a result of severe head trauma and internal injuries sustained during the beating.

Prosecutors wrote in the indictment that the attackers “kicked him several times on the ground on his face and head, causing him internal and external bodily injuries, which caused his death almost immediately, by causing a cardiac arrest due to neurogenic shock caused by severe head trauma,” according to the Buenos Aires Times.

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How Were Fernando’s Killers Caught?

Investigators quickly focused on the rugby group. Within a short time, local authorities detained all 11 of its members, largely thanks to videos obtained from eyewitnesses and from the attackers themselves.

After a year-long investigation, prosecutors charged eight of them in Fernando’s death. The case went to trial in January 2023 on aggravated homicide charges. Five of the men — Máximo Thomsen, Ciro Pertossi, Luciano Pertossi, Matías Benicelli and Enzo Comelli — were tried as “co-perpetrators.” The other three — Lucas Pertossi, Blas Cinalli and Ayrton Viollaz — were charged as “secondary participants,” The Guardian reported.

In February 2023, all eight were found guilty. The five co-perpetrators received life sentences, while the three secondary participants were each sentenced to 15 years in prison.

Three additional young men associated with the group — Juan Pedro Guarino, Alejo Milanesi and Tomás Collazo — were investigated but ultimately not charged due to insufficient evidence.

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Where Are the Eight Men Convicted in the Case Now?

As of November 2025, the eight rugby players convicted in the killing of Fernando Báez Sosa are serving their sentences in different prisons across Argentina.

Following the sentencing in 2023, the attorney for Fernando’s family, Fernando Burlando, criticized the fact that only five of the eight received life terms.

“Eight convictions, I believe this is just the beginning, the first step towards a response that truly touches Fernando’s heart. We understand, and always understood, that it was a contemplative justice,” he said at the time, according to Clarín. “Nobody showed Fernando any leniency, but the gang received leniency that they didn’t. There was irrational mercy shown to three defendants.”

Fernando’s parents, meanwhile, have continued to speak publicly about their loss and their search for justice. They share their pain and memories of their only son in interviews and in the Netflix docuseries 50 Seconds: The Fernando Báez Sosa Case.

“Fernando is the only victim here,” his mother, Graciela, told reporters in 2023, per The Guardian. “They killed him in the worst way possible, kicking him, while he was begging for them to stop.”

One year after the attack, his father, Silvino, wrote on social media that his “son was beaten for racist reasons,” according to The Guardian. “It was hate. Maybe they felt superior because they’re blond and Fernando had dark skin.”