Article by Daniel Scorpie – Published Friday, 01 May 2026, 12:34 / Updated Friday, 01 May 2026 12:43
At the reopening of the death file of Diego Armando Maradona, Veronica Ojeda testified and once again launched harsh accusations, amid anger and tears, against the neurosurgeon Leopoldo Luque, who had the former Argentine star in medical care.
The trial of the seven defendants for manslaughter in the death of Diego Armando Maradonawhich is currently taking place at the San Isidro court in Buenos Aires, continues amid intense tensions and emotions.
Veronica Ojeda: “Diego loved him and also gave Leopoldo Luque a motorcycle. I don't understand how he could do that”
After the testimony given by Gianinna's daughter last week, Thursday was the turn of his ex-wife, Veronica Ojeda. “He's a criminal! Diego loved him and even gave him a motorcycle. I don't understand how he could do this.
Veronica Ojeda, ex-wife of Diego Armando Maradona, with her lawyer, Mario Baudry / Photo: GettyImages
He (no – neurosurgeon Leopoldo Luque) and psychiatrist Agustina Cosachov convinced us to take Diego home and provide us with all the necessary equipment. I try to be respectful, but he killed my son's father!” Ojeda protested through tears.
Consistent with Gianinna's testimony, the ex-wife of “El Pibe de Oro” resumed the accusation that “that house was not suitable for home care.
“In Diego's room there was only a night pot, extremely dirty and a sickening, unbearable smell hit you”
There were no appliances, you couldn't even wash! In Diego's room there was only a night pot, it was extremely dirty and you were hit by a nauseating, unbearable smell”.
Veronica Ojeda then presented the court with a full recording, over an hour long, of the meeting between Luque's medical staff and Maradona's family, in which it was decided that Diego would not be hospitalized after a complicated head operation to remove a hematoma and that he would be treated by a neurosurgeon at the villa in the town of Ezeiza.
Diego Armando Maradona's deathbed photo / Photo: TV capture
Incidentally, it was there that the 1986 world champion finally died on November 25, 2020, at the age of 60. The judges will now decide whether to include the new evidence presented in the trial.
Those charged face up to 25 years in prison if convicted, but all deny the charges. Judges Alberto Gaig, Alberto Ortolani and Pablo Rolon are expected to deliver their verdict in early June.
The new trial in the case of Maradona's death began on April 14. Two hearings are scheduled a week, on Tuesday and Thursday, and more than a hundred witnesses are expected to testify, including family members, relatives, medical staff and police.
