Details of Maradona “slow, agonizing death” emerge

The circumstances surrounding Diego Armando Maradona’s death are becoming clearer. During the sixth hearing of the ongoing trial, Mauricio Cassinelli, the forensic expert who conducted Maradona’s autopsy, testified on Thursday that the legendary footballer had “a heart that weighed more than twice a normal, healthy heart,” suffered from “generalized edema from head to toe,” and endured a prolonged agony lasting 12 hours before his passing in November 2020.

Maradona suffering from heart failure

Cassinelli, who previously served as the Director of Legal Medicine at the Scientific Police Superintendency, revealed that Maradona’s body had accumulated “four and a half liters of fluid,” with three liters concentrated in his abdomen. Water retention is a symptom of heart failure. “The heart was completely covered in fat and blood clots, which indicate agony,” Cassinelli added.

The autopsy findings were made public for the first time during the trial, which involves seven medical professionals accused of negligence during Maradona’s final hours.

The official cause of death was determined to be “acute pulmonary edema with heart failure and dilated cardiomyopathy,” according to local media reports covering the trial. Cassinelli emphasized that Maradona should not have been treated at home but rather given proper care in a hospital setting.

Seven members of Maradona’s medical team deny charges

The defendants in the trial, who include Neurosurgeon and family doctor Leopoldo Luque and psychiatrist Agustina Cosachov, deny the charges, but if found guilty, they could face prison sentences of up to 25 years. The legal proceedings are expected to last until mid-July, with more than 190 witnesses scheduled to testify.

Maradona passed away on November 25, 2020, at the age of 60, in a private residential community located north of Buenos Aires.

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