Aramburu's killers sentenced to 26 and 19 years in Paris murder trial

Loïk Le Priol was sentenced to 26 years in prison on Friday after a Paris court found him guilty of murdering former Argentina rugby international Federico Martín Aramburu, who was shot dead in the city’s Saint-Germain district in March 2022. Romain Bouvier, convicted of attempted murder, received a 19-year sentence. Both men have 10 days to lodge an appeal.

Aramburu, who earned 22 caps for Los Pumas and spent much of his club career in France with Biarritz, was 42 years old when he was killed following an altercation that began inside a Paris bar and spilled onto the street. The court established that Le Priol fired the fatal shots and described both defendants as being united by a fascination with weapons and violence.

French prosecutors had sought sentences of 27 and 20 years respectively. The court fell marginally short of those requests but firmly rejected the defence arguments of self-defence and psychological impairment put forward on behalf of Le Priol and Bouvier.

Before the verdict was delivered, Le Priol addressed Aramburu’s family directly and asked for forgiveness. “I am a Christian, just like you… I don’t know if it’s a sign, but I hope that one day they will find the strength to forgive me, and that I, too, will find the strength to forgive myself,” he said.

The trial also heard testimony from Shaun Hegarty, a former New Zealand rugby player and ex-teammate of Aramburu who was present on the night of the shooting. Hegarty rejected the defendants’ version of events and accused them of attempting to evade responsibility for their actions.

The case drew widespread attention across both France and Argentina throughout the proceedings. Members of the Argentina national squad publicly backed calls for justice during the trial, and Aramburu’s family attended the hearings in Paris.