Ex-Argentina footballer accused of involved in the death of his former partner

Former Valencia and Boca Juniors star Fernando Caceres has been accused of being involved in the death of his former partner by her family after she fell from the seventh floor of their apartment in the Argentine city of Ramos Mejia, according to reports in Argentina.

Raquel Candia, 45, is said to have been alone in the house with the 54-year-old ex-defender, with whom she lived for eleven months.

Candia was found in the building's courtyard after reportedly falling from the seventh-floor apartment, and local media reported that residents had heard “screams” in the hours leading up to her death.

According to Canal 26, other neighbors are said to have seen Candia's fall, and her death is now being investigated by Carlos Arribas, homicide prosecutor in the La Matanza district, with the support of the scientific department of the Buenos Aires police.

Arribas was previously involved with Caceres when he investigated the shooting of the former player in 2009.

The ex-Celta Vigo star was left in a wheelchair with life-changing injuries after being shot in the head while involved in an attempted robbery while driving his car in the Buenos Aires suburb of Ciudadela.

On Monday, Caceres was found by police in the apartment, reportedly with blood and hair on his body, while his house was in disarray.

According to Spanish newspaper Marca, Caceres was not in his wheelchair and was sitting on the bed when he was met by police.

In the wake of the tragedy, the 54-year-old was accused by some of Candia's relatives of playing a role in his partner's death, with one of her brothers calling the crime “a femicide” and Caceres “a bad person.” .

“It was quite an aggressive relationship on his part,” Candia's sibling said via Marca. “There are witnesses here and neighbors who told us there had been violence before and they approached the balcony and they pushed her and she fell off the cliff… It's a femicide….”

'Fernando Cáceres has always abused her, he is a bad person. It's inhumane.'

Candia's cousin, who spoke to media at the scene of the accident, said she believed her relative's death was not an accident and that the family was keen to place their trust in police.

'It wasn't her. We need to investigate what happened,” she said, along with another Candia brother, Miguel, who made the point more forcefully through La Nacion.

“There's someone to blame,” he said. “My sister didn't commit suicide, my sister was murdered.”

Another family member added: “It's clear she was murdered. To be clear, she is not going to commit suicide because she would never do such a thing.

'The police don't tell me anything. There has to be a protocol, but they won't let me in to see her.'

Candia's mother Adela also confirmed that the couple was on the verge of breaking up at the time of her daughter's death, adding that although she “didn't know much (…), she was moving out.”

Adela added that Candia had a difficult relationship with an unnamed ex-partner, the father of her three children.

Arribas' first public statement emphasized that nothing had been ruled out as police began their investigation.

“We are not ruling out any hypothesis, it is very premature,” says Arribas. 'We work at the scene of the crime. We have nothing on a third person.”

Caceres started his career with Argentinos Juniors in the late 1980s, playing for his country's notable sides including River Plate and Boca Juniors, before moving to Spain to join Valencia in 1996.

The centre-back played for the side, as well as Celta Vigo and Cordoba, before returning to home soil and ending his 21-year career with his youth team.

Internationally, Caceres was part of the Argentina team that claimed the 1993 Copa America title and traveled to the US to play in the 1994 World Cup.