fled away not before shooting Banks in the foot. This "bullet hole" in his boot was later revealed to have been faked with an awl. He claimed he then spent time with his brother Miguel as he lay dying, though the autopsy showed that Miguel had died instantly. Eventually, the prosecution tied Banks to the purchase of the ammunition used in the murders and to the attempted poisoning of his family earlier on the day of the murders. He also confessed at one point, but later claimed it was through torture by the authorities and threats to harass his daughter. Motive In the course of the investigation it was revealed that Banks had lost his fortune to gambling and was on the verge of destitution, even after having sold part of his inheritance to his siblings. He had also sold large amounts of cattle that didn't belong to him after forging Dionisio's signature. The prosecutor concluded that Banks wanted both to conceal his past misdeeds from the family and inherit the fortunes of both María Ana and Miguel. He couldn't attain Dionisio's fortune due to Dionisio's wife still being alive and away in a mental institution in La Plata. This (in addition to her youth making her an unreliable witness) explains why Anita was not killed. Since Dionisio would still have an heir (his wife) it was not profitable. Banks also spared María Ercilia's life because her death would have contradicted his story that her father, Juan Gaitán, was one of the perpetrators. Trial, conviction and later life After a first trial in Azul found him guilty, Banks had the benefit of a second trial in La Plata thanks to a legal technicality. Both proceedings ended with a sentence of life imprisonment. At the second trial famed lawyer Antonio Palacios Zinny tried to garner sympathy with the jury by having Banks poisoning himself in front of them with a (non-fatal) dose of cyanide. Banks wouldn't go through with it. The sensationalist press at the time nicknamed Banks "Mateocho", a pun in Spanish that means "I killed eight". Despite being eventually sentenced to life in prison and jailed in Ushuaia's penal colony in 1924, he was released for good behavior in 1942. Rejected by his wife and sons when he tried to settle in the city of Olavarria, where they were living by then, Banks moved to Buenos Aires under the